I Got the Boy
by MrsHalsteadxx
Summary: "I got the first kiss, and she'll get the last. She's got the future and I've got the past. I got the class ring, she got the diamond and wedding band. I got the boy, and she got the man." Full length fic. Now complete.
1. Prologue part one

**! PLEASE READ!** Hey guys! I know I just kind of disappeared and took my stories with me a while back. I had a lot of personal and family issues going on and I took some time to myself to deal with those. Things are still a bit rocky with my grandpa, and have been for quite some time. Honestly, I'm not sure if things with him will ever be the same. That's a one day at a time kind of thing. However, other issues in my life seem to be picking up! I've got a new job as of a few hours ago, and this morning my precious baby niece is finally here! I'm so in love with her, and you all best believe my ass will be there to love her and spoil her as soon as I get off work tomorrow!

But enough of me, as I said above, I know I just kind of disappeared off the face of the planet. I can't thank you all enough for the messages and kind words I received after leaving. I logged on the other day and all the messages seriously made me cry. You all rock. I hope I haven't burned any bridges, but I would really like to upload all my old fics, as well as a new Linstead fic I am thinking on. You guys let me know where I can go from there. I'm going to go off your guys' thoughts and wishes.

I'll shut up now, I'm going to go channel my new found excitement into some writing for you guys! Please let me know what you all think! Xoxo

* * *

"Whoa Erin," My roommate and best friend, Nadia, says barely giving me time to step into the kitchen. She sits at the island, her mouth full of cereal and all but shoves the newspaper into my hands. "It's Jay!" She glances up at me, her jaw on the table. At the mention of his name, I feel my heart skip a beat.

"Hmm, it is." I confirm my eyes never leaving the paper that was now laying in front of me on the counter. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the picture of my ex boyfriend and his new fiancé that accompanied the announcement of their engagement.

They were the picture perfect couple that he and I never were. She was gorgeous, with dark brown wavy hair and bright blue eyes. She came up to his chin, and he stood behind her with his arms wrapped tightly around her waist as his chin rested on top of her head. She was snuggled back into his embrace and looked perfect, despite the fact that they were standing on a boat, out on the water from what I can gather in the background. The smile he wore, that still takes my breath away even after all this time, said it all. He was truly happy, and I felt as if someone were stabbing me in the gut with a thousand knives.

She was the polar opposite of what I ever imagined him with, the daughter of a politician. He had never been that kind of guy. He was a rebel without a cause, staying out all night partying, midnight dirt bike racing out on the old country back roads, and sneaking booze into his mom's attic where we spent all of our time perfecting our fake ID's, all the while we had his mom convinced that we were studying. He hated dressing up, if it didn't involve jeans and those damn boots, he wasn't interested. And our senior prom? Ha, that was an adventure. After countless fights, he gave in and allowed his mom and I to dress him, but only if he could wear his boots. We reluctantly agreed, despite the fact he looked ridiculous. I still shutter when I look at the picture, all these years later.

And to look at the picture of him now, it is like looking at a completely different person. He wore khakis and a sweater; his unruly curly hair pushed back and more tamed than it had been when we were growing up. Long gone were his ball cap and those hideous boots. He was more grown up, more mature looking. Not that it was a bad thing, he looked amazing. He was more put together than I had ever seen him. He had a dark scruffy look to him, and it was working for him... and me.

I let out a sigh as I shove the paper back to Nadia and walk over to the counter. She begins to read the article once more as I make myself a cup of coffee. After the long week I had at work, this was not helping in the least bit and I was in dire need of coffee, if not something stronger. Why was it only 7 am?

"How in the hell did he of all people end up with the daughter of a damn senator?" Nadia mumbles, her eyes not leaving the article in front of her. "Do you know how much money this bitch probably has?"

I roll my eyes at her as I move to sit down across from her. She doesn't even notice my presence as I bring the cup up to my mouth, instead she just continues on venting. "Like how in the hell do you manage that and where can I get me a son of a politician? Oh my god, they're getting married at Meyer's Castle." Her jaw drops as she glances up at me. "How in the hell is he affording that on a detective salary?"

I laugh bitterly as I glance around my apartment. Working in the same line of work, I can assure you that wasn't in his budget. "He's not; clearly her daddy is paying for the affair."

"Must be nice," Nadia mumbles, turning back to the article. "I'm so jealous of this bitch and her life right now."

"You have no idea..." I mumble, pushing my cup away and standing up. I was sick of this discussion and I needed an out. "I'm heading to work, I'll see you there."

 **I saw your picture in a paper, Honeymoon in Jamaica, she's a lucky girl  
You look so grown up in your black tux, from a ball cap in a pickup, seems like another world  
You and me and our big dreams, falling in love  
We were two kids in the backseat, all fearless and young  
**

"Heads up everyone," Comes the booming voice of Hank Voight, as he makes his way up the steps into the unit.

I glance up from my file that I was working on and I notice Antonio doing the same next to me. Ruzek and Atwater walk out of the break room, both with a steaming cup of coffee in their hands. Olinsky glances up to Voight, leaning back in his chair, while Nadia makes quick to end her call, stuff her phone away on her desk and turn to face Voight. "I want to introduce you all to the newest member of our unit." He starts, and I roll my eyes, turning back to my chart. I was not interested in a new member to this unit in the least bit. If this one was anything like the last one, he or she would be gone by the end of the day.

"Everyone, this is Detective Jay Halstead, he is joining us from Narcotics."

As soon as the name leaves his mouth, my heart stops and my head jerks up so fast that I'm sure I suffer from whiplash. Jay claps Hank on the shoulder, thanking him before glancing around the room, offering a warm smile.

Nadia and I manage to exchange glances, her eyes wide, before he catches my eye. He holds my eye for a minute and offers a small nod and a slight smile, completely melting me into a puddle of goo, before he turns back to Hank.

Feeling the burn of my cheeks, I quickly glance back down at the file in front of me, pretending to read it as Voight continues on. I only rejoin the unit when I hear my name. "I'm sorry what?" I ask, glancing up at Voight.

He raises an eyebrow at me and nods toward Jay. "I said, Jay can take the desk across from you, considering he is your new partner."

"My new partner?" I ask my heart beating out of my chest. "What about Atwater? We can't leave him partner-less!"

"First off," Voight says walking toward his office. He stops outside the door and turns to face me. "Atwater is a big boy and can handle himself, and second, he is now with Dawson, leaving you free to go with Halstead. Is there a problem Lindsay?"

I shake my head and glance over at Jay, who was already sitting at the desk across from me, watching me closely. "No sir."

"Good." He glances between Jay and I before turning to walk in his office. "Back to work."

 **I got the first kiss and she'll get the last  
She's got the future, I got the past  
I got the class ring, she got the diamond and wedding band  
I got the boy, she got the man**

" _Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Nadia shouts, as she makes her way across the parking lot of the school toward the car of her boyfriend, who had the job of getting her home safely tonight. She was half lit, having snuck in a bottle of Jack Daniels to the home football game._

 _I chuckle as I watch Jordan, her boyfriend, try to direct her into the car. "Don't worry Nadia, I won't!" I yell back and watch as Jordan finally manages to get her in the car, seatbelt in, and shuts the door. He waves to us, and both Jay and I wave back as he climbs in the driver's side and drives off._

 _Jay chuckles and turns to me. "How much did she drink exactly?" he asks, as he opens the door to his truck for me to climb in._

" _Oh I'd say she drank at least three fourths of the bottle." I giggle and he shakes his head, laughing. He shuts the door and runs around the truck before climbing in the driver's side and starting it up._

" _Let me guess, you finished it off for her?" He asks, glancing over at me, eyebrows rose._

 _I turn to him, and raise an eyebrow back at him. This causes him to chuckle, and I give in, laughing along with him. "Well of course. She was drunk, and acting like an idiot and the principal was making his way toward us, what was I supposed to do?"_

 _He pulls the truck out of the parking lot and starts down the highway, still laughing. "Oh the trouble you two get into."_

 _I roll my eyes playfully and glance out the window as the night zips past us. "Oh please Jay, you're the worst of us all."_

" _No arguments there." He chuckles, reaching over and grabbing my hand. I glance at him to find him looking at me. He shoots me a wink before intertwining our fingers. I feel my cheeks turn red and glance back out the window, a giant smile on my face._

 _We drive in comfortable silence for a good ten minutes before coming to a stop. We were at his grandfather's old lake. Not many people come out here anymore, since his grandfather died a few years back. Jay has made a point to spend every summer since then out here, keeping it up by mowing and such. It was a nice, peaceful place to be and I loved coming out here with him. It gave us plenty of privacy._

 _Without saying a word, Jay puts the truck in park, reaches into the backseat to grab a blanket and then jumps out of the truck. I grab the food I had packed and join him. We walk hand in hand across the land, him only letting go of my hand long enough to set the stuff down. He lays the blanket down in front of a giant tree and then sits down, his back to the tree. I move to sit in front of him. We spend the next couple of hours, eating our dinner, talking and enjoying the peacefulness that this place brings us._

 _Earlier after eating, I had relaxed back into his arms and snuggled in his embrace as he leant his head on my shoulder, whispering in my ear. He made no sense, and was random with his rambling and whispering incoherent things in my ear, causing me to laugh. After a while, his voice lulls me to a point where I am almost asleep._

" _Erin," He mumbles, and I stir slightly, having been just about asleep in his arms._

" _Yeah Jay?"_

" _I have something for you." He whisper, and I finally open my eyes. I glance down to his right hand and watch as he pulls his class ring off of his finger. "Now, I know this will be too big for you, but I want you to have this." He starts, as I stare down at the ring in his hand. My heart was beating a million miles a minute._

" _Erin, I love you more than anyone or anything on this planet. I know, we're young, and I don't want anything out of this except for you to know exactly how much I do love you. Would I mind still being with you, and marrying you after high school? Hell yeah, I would. Nothing would make me happier… but I also know you are only sixteen years old, and we are nowhere near ready for that. We both have so much to do with our lives and I want us to do them. But I do want to marry you one day Erin Lindsay. So, as a promise to you that one day I will do just that, will you keep this safe for me?"_

 _With tears in my eyes, I turn around in his grip and take his face in my hands. "Jay Halstead, you are such a piece of work, but you are my piece of work. I love you so much, and I would love nothing more than to keep this safe for you." I say taking the ring from him and holding it tightly in my hand. I glance down at it, a permanent smile on my face, before glancing back up at him. He was watching me, a content smile on his face as well. I take one more glance at the ring before leaning in and crushing my lips to his._

 **Yeah there's an old you that I knew,  
Fake IDs to get into those spring break bars  
Back woods on a four wheel, hanging on tight, I can still feel my racing heart  
And now you're cleaned up with a haircut, nice tie and shoes  
If things were different and I had a choice, which would I choose?**

" _And how exactly are we going to get in there?" I ask, turning to glance at Jay, before turning back and looking at the night club, which was clearly in full swing at 2 am. We were currently in Florida for Spring Break of our senior year with a group of our friends. It took a lot of convincing, but we had finally got all our parents to agree to let us come, but only on the promise that we wouldn't do anything stupid._

 _And of course, Jay was the first to break that rule._

" _With these beauties." He says, matter of factly, as he holds up our fake ID's. "Erin, this is what we spent months working on them for."_

" _They are not going to work." I inform him, and he chuckles before moving to stand next to me. He wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me into him._

" _Yes, they will ok? Just watch." He quickly leans down and plants a kiss on my temple before leading me toward the bouncer, the rest of the group on his heels._

 _Right away, the bouncer holds his hand out to stop us. "Sorry, nobody under 21 admitted."_

 _Jay rolls his eyes before handing the man both mine and his ID's. I bite my bottom lip as I watch the man study the ID's before glancing up at us and studying us as well. He does this back and forth for a few minutes, as Jay raises an eyebrow at him in question._

 _Eventually, the bouncer lets out a sigh and hands the ID's back to Jay before stepping aside and letting us in. "Have a good night."_

 _Jay squeezes my shoulder and leads me toward the door as I hear Nadia squeal in excitement behind us as she was admitted with her boyfriend and the rest of the group. We all make our way inside the loud, crowded night club and we all head our separate ways. Nadia and her boyfriend head toward the dance floor while the rest of Jay's football buddies heads toward the bar. Jay grabs my arm and pulls me to an empty booth._

 _He pulls me in after him, and I snuggle into his side as he leans down to whisper in my ear. "Now what were you saying?"_

 _I pull back and glance up at him, to find that adorable half smirk written all over his face. I can't help but laugh as I smack his shoulder. "Shut up Jay, I get it. You're a badass" This causes his smirk to grow and I roll my eyes playfully. "Go get me a drink already."_

 _He winks at me before moving out of the booth. "Anything for you baby."_

 **I got the first kiss and she'll get the last  
She's got the future and I got the past  
I got the class ring, she got the diamond and wedding band  
I got the boy and she got the man  
**

" _Erin," Nadia shouts for the millionth time, as she continues to beat on the locked bedroom door. "Come on, he's fixing to leave. Do you really want to go out this way?"_

 _She was right. Today, Jay was leaving for basic training for the Rangers and God only knew when he would be back. How had this summer gone by so fast? It feels like graduation was just yesterday, and now, Jay is leaving._

 _Reluctantly, I push myself off of my bed and walk over to the mirror hanging on my wall. I quickly redo my messy bun and make sure to wipe the smeared make up off my face so he didn't know I had been crying. He was already looking for every excuse to not leave today, and I knew if he saw me like this, he would never go. Once I was settled, I turn and make my way out of my bedroom, and past Nadia._

 _I make my way throughout the house and out the door to where he stood with his parents and my mother._

" _There's my favorite girl!" He says a hint of sadness in his voice. I walk past everyone and run straight into his arms. I bump into him with such force that he almost falls over, but he quickly stands his ground and hugs me back tighter than I was him. "I was starting to think you weren't coming to say goodbye to me."_

 _I keep my face buried in his chest, taking in the scent that was him. "Just hold me Jay." I say, as my tears soak his shirt._

 _I feel him reach up and run his hand over my hair as he places kiss after kiss on my temple. "I love you so much Erin, so so much."_

 _I cry harder and tighten my grip on his shirt, not wanting to let him go, but knowing it was coming._

 _He somehow manages to pry my head from his chest and he holds my head in his hands. He leans down so we were eye level. "Hey baby, calm down. It is only a few months then I will be home with you alright? Then it's you and me for the rest of our lives. Remember?"_

 _I stay silent, and nod to him, my eyes never leaving his. My tears were streaming down my face at this point, and he gives me sad smile as he tries to wipe them away. It was no use._

 _He leans in and plants his lips on mine softly as his father announces it was time for them to go, or they would be late._

 _He sighs and leans down, locking eyes with me once again. "I love you baby girl."_

 _I choke out a sob, as I reply. "I love you too."_

 _He reaches forward and runs his thumb across his high school ring, which hung on a neckless around my neck, considering it was too big to fit my hand. A small smile forms on his lips. "You remember what this means okay? I'm coming back for you, and you're going to be mine forever. Keep it safe ok?"_

 _I nod, and he shoots me a wink before leaning down and kissing me one last time._

 _Reluctantly, we pull away and he gives me one last squeeze before dropping his arms and making his way toward his parents' car._

 _I stand back and watch him, waving to him until the car disappears down the road and out of sight. Once he was gone, I break down and feel Nadia's arms around me. I allow her to pull me in the house, where I cry myself to sleep._

That was the last time I ever saw him. I still don't know how it happened. We spent the first two months of his training writing back and forth until his letters got fewer and lesser between. Eventually, they stopped all together. I was heartbroken, but I knew it was for the best. I was never meant to be an army wife anyways.

So, as a way to move on with my life, I applied to the academy and was accepted. I graduated at the top of my class and landed this gig working for Voight not long after. Eight years later, I'm still here, and I'm kicking ass if I must say so myself.

With a heavy sigh, I push my chair away from my desk and move to walk into the break room for a much needed cup of coffee. This was my fourth since reading that article this morning.

I close my eyes and sigh internally when I hear footsteps approaching. I don't even have to turn around to know it was Jay. He had been eyeing me ever since he walked up onto this floor.

"Hey." He says softly as I turn around to face him.

"Hey," I reply, raising an eyebrow at him.

"How have you been?" He asks, reaching for a empty coffee mug and filling it to the brim.

I shake my head, stopping him right away. "No Jay, we aren't doing this. "

He opens his mouth to speak, but I hold my hand up telling him to stop once more. "No Jay, okay? We can't do this. We are partners, and nothing else. Everything we had in the past?" I ask him, reaching up and slipping off the necklace that I had worn underneath my clothes for the last ten years, and handing it to him. "It's gone. Its history. We are partners, nothing more."

And with that, I turn and walk out of the break room, leaving him standing alone. I take my seat at my desk and glance to the break room to find him still staring down at the ring in his hand, before he glances over his shoulder at me. I quickly advert my gaze across the room and catch Nadia's eye.

She discretely gives me a wink and a nod, encouraging me that I was doing the right thing.

And I settle back in my seat knowing that I was. Jay Halstead was not the boy that I had fallen in love with a little over ten years ago. That boy was gone, and he was now a man. A man I no longer knew. Brittany, that is her name by the way, she gets the man, but I got the boy.


	2. Prologue part two

Hey guys! I wanna apologize for not getting this up sooner! I meant to, I really did but I uploaded the first part from work and I ran out of time on my break before I could get the other chapters up. So, I'm sorry guys! Here you all go!

Thank you you so much for all the kind words of my return! Also for the thoughts and prayers for my papaw! They mean a lot! And one quick question- do you all want this story to be full length? I have some ideas and t will follow Erin's pregnancy if you want to read it! Let me know!

* * *

After learning that Jay was now joining our unit, the rest of the morning went off without a hitch. The unit was quiet as everyone spent their free time catching up on some paperwork that we had all been avoiding all week. After lunch, we caught wind about one of our open cases, and we all jumped to close the deal.

Hours later, after a successful bust, Jay and I were on our way back to the district to wrap things up for the night. I was driving as Jay sat in the passenger seat drumming his fingers along his thigh and staring out the window. We sat in an awkward silence. After our little talk this morning, we hadn't said two words to one another, unless it involved the case, and I was perfectly ok with that. I had spent way too much time crying and pining over him in the past, and I was finally okay with where I stood in my life.

It had taken some time, but I had managed to forget him and everything that he once stood for. I had pulled myself together and made a wonderful life for myself. Sure, I never had a long serious relationship after he left me, but I had plenty of boyfriends over the years. I had grown, I had my fun, and now I was devoted to my work. It was the perfect system… but I guess all systems are made to be brought down, and when Jay walked into Intelligence this morning, mine started to crumble.

I was now in the process of trying to get used to the idea that I was now not only working with my ex boyfriend, the one who had crushed my heart into a million pieces, but that he was now my partner. I would be spending hours on end with him, probably seeing him more than my family, and having to trust him with my life. It had been years since I had done just that, and we all see how far that got us.

I hear him let out a heavy sigh and out of the corner of my eye, I see him turn to look at me. I bite the inside of my cheek as he moves to speak.

"So why do you get to drive?"

I roll my eyes and continue to focus on the road. "Because I've been in this unit for damn near eight years, while you've only been around for eight hours."

I turn my head and glance at him, to find him nodding his head but still watching me. We lock eyes for a moment and I quickly glance back to the road. "That's fair." He mumbles.

I don't reply but instead turn left onto the street leading to the district.

"Erin are we ever going to talk?" I instantly shake my head no and he sighs. I see him run his hand through his hair, a sign I had long learned meant he was annoyed or frustrated.

"We have nothing to talk about Jay. " I tell him, pulling up in front of the precinct. I shift the car into park and glance to him.

He was giving me a pleading look, and it took everything in me to not give into him right away. "Please Erin, just let me explain?"

I shake my head, protesting right away and reach to turn the car off but stop when I feel his hand on my arm. I glance down and watch as he takes my hand and intertwines it with his, halting me immediately. Instead of glancing to him, I close my eyes as I feel a surge of excitement rush down my spine with his skin on mine.

"Erin, I know you're hurt. Trust me, I've felt like shit every day for the past eight years, but will you please just go somewhere so we can talk?"

I open my eyes and turn to face him, finding that he still wore the same pleading look on his face. I let out a sigh. "I really need to drop my equipment off and grab a few things, but afterwards, sure we can go somewhere and talk."

A small smile tugs at his lips as he raises an eyebrow at me. "Promise?"

I fight the urge to laugh as he lets my hand free and I reach forward to turn the car off. "I promise Jay." I pull the key out of the ignition and open the door before turning to look back at him. "You coming in?"

He shakes his head. "Nah, I'll wait here."

This time, the giggle escapes my lips. "You don't trust me do you?"

His smile turns into a smirk; the same smirk that he knows is my one weakness in this world. "Not as far as I can throw you Erin Lindsay."

I nod my head, laughing. "That is fair. I'll be right back." I tell him, and hand him the keys so he could start the car back up and keep the heat going in the cold February weather. He nods, sticking them in the ignition and I climb out of the car and run up the steps into the district.

"Hey where have you been?" Nadia asks, standing up from the couch. She brings her blanket with her and wraps it around her shoulders as she walks through the dimly lit apartment to join me in the kitchen. "It's almost midnight; I was starting to get worried."

"Sorry mom," I mumble, walking over to the fridge to get a water bottle. I turn to her and raise an eyebrow at her as I take a drink.

She raises an eyebrow at me in return, and fights a smile. "It isn't like that Erin and you know that. I just know you guys had that major bust tonight and when you didn't come home at a reasonable hour, I was worried that some creep had you locked away somewhere and I would never see you again."

"Oh come on Nadia, you know you weren't worried about me" I joke as I sit the water bottle down on the cabinet. "You were just worried you would be stuck with my half of the rent."

She manages to lose her composure and laughs. "Yeah, you're right. You know I can't afford this place on my sucky salary. Not all of us are glamorous detectives with kick ass pay."

"It isn't that amazing," I remind her and she nods.

"Better than what I make," She shrugs. "But seriously, where were you?"

I sigh and sit down at the island in the middle of the kitchen. She follows suit and sits down across from me. "I was out with Jay."

Her jaw drops. "Wait, what? The last time I saw you two today, you wouldn't even look at him."

"Yeah I know," I let out a heavy sigh and slink down in my seat. "Trust me, I didn't want to talk to him, but you know Jay. He's slick and he always has a way of getting inside of my head."

" _So where exactly are you taking me?" Jay asks, leaning forward to glance out the windshield._

" _Molly's" I inform him, turning right down the road leading to the bar._

" _No," He turns and looks at me. "Erin everyone else is going to be there and they will be right in the middle of our business. I want to seriously talk to you, without the distractions." He turns and glances out the window at the bar just in the distance and then turns back to look at me, giving me those same damn eyes he had given me earlier. I have never once; in all the years I have known him, been able to say no to those eyes._

 _I sigh and drive past the bar, which was crowded for a Thursday night, and continue on down the road before coming to a stop in front of a small coffee house._

 _He glances at the building and smiles before turning back to me. "Perfect, come on." He says climbing out of the car and waiting at the sidewalk for me._

 _I follow suit, and climb out of the car before walking around the front of the car. When I step up onto the curb, he places his hand at the small of my back and leads me toward the door, opening it for me. I have to take a few breaths to calm myself down as we approach the counter._

" _Hey Erin," Josh, the kid behind the counter says smiling up at me, and I smile in return. "You just getting off?" He asks, moving to make my drink. I regularly stop by on my way to and from work, so he knew my order like the back of my hand, and he was of the very few who knew how to do it just right._

" _Yeah, it's been a long night." I tell him before glancing back at Jay. Jay was glancing back and forth between the kid and I and I smirk to myself, knowing he was jealous of the simple interaction. Josh was 21 at the most, and my barista, nothing else. Sure, he always flirted but I wasn't interested in the least bit. However, it was a little fun to watch Jay sweat it._

 _I turn back to Josh and motion to Jay standing behind me. "Josh, this is my new partner, Detective Jay Halstead." I glance behind me to see Jay staring him down. "Jay, this is Josh."_

 _Josh hands my cup to me before turning to Jay, holding his hand out. "Nice to meet you man," Jay looks down at his hand before reaching up and shaking it. "What can I get you?"_

 _Jay shakes his head. "Simple black coffee is fine."_

 _Josh nods and turns to pour his drink. Jay glances over to me and I roll my eyes before moving to find a seat. Seconds later, I hear Jay thank Josh and then he was sitting across from me at the small table._

 _I had picked a table in the far corner so that Josh couldn't hear our conversation, considering we were the only ones in the shop this late at night. I glance up and find him busy behind the counter, not paying us any attention before turning to look at Jesse. He sat with his back facing the counter and was watching me intently._

" _Okay Halstead, you got me alone; talk." I say, bringing my cup up to my lips and taking a swig._

 _He shakes his head, as he leans forward on the table slightly. "I don't know where to start."_

" _Well why don't you start with why you randomly stopped writing me and then forgot all about me." I retort sarcastically, raising an eyebrow at him._

 _His eyebrows knit together in confusion. "Erin, what are you talking about? You're the one asked me to quit writing you."_

" _No I didn't Jay!" I exclaim, a little too loudly. Josh glances up from behind the counter and Jay gives me a look. I stay silent for a minute until Josh turns back to his work. "Jay, I wrote you every day for three months after I got your last letter, and I heard nothing in return! Do you know how much that hurt me? I loved you, more than anything and it just about killed me when I never heard anything from you."_

 _At my statement, his face softens and he sighs before reaching up and running his hand over his face. "Erin, I don't know what happened, I really don't, but I never quit writing you. I wrote you a letter a day for the entire first two months I was there, but eventually, you quit answering me. I continued to write you for alteast another month before I got a letter from you, asking me to leave you alone so that you could move on with your life."_

 _His eyes never leave mine as he speaks, and I feel my eyes grow twice their size as he tells me this. "Jay, what are you talking about? I never sent you that. I loved you, I would have followed you to the ends of the earth – I would have never sent that."_

 _He sighs and sits back in his seat. "If you didn't send that… then who did?"_

 _Suddenly, it all clicks and I shake my head in frustration. "I think I have an idea."_

" _No! Mom you know what? You went entirely too far with this." I stay silent, staring out into the cold Chicago night as my mother argues from the other side of the line. I roll my eyes, cutting her off. "No mom! This IS your fault! You did this to me! You sat back and let me cry myself to sleep every night for MONTHS knowing you did this to me. Your own fucking daughter! Who does that? Mom, you cried WITH me." By now, I was on the verge of tears, but it was only pissing me off more. "No, mom I'm done. I don't know how you could do something like this to someone you supposedly love. You know how I felt about him; you knew he was the one for me. He loved me and he cared about me, he was going to take care of me and just because you couldn't have that, you wouldn't let me have that. It is because of you that I am this miserable bitter shell of who I used to be, and the reason I've been this way for almost nine years. I'm done with you mother, you've lost all respect from me…"I pause once more, as she sobs and I take in a deep breath before bitterly saying. "I can never forgive you for ruining my life."_

 _And with that, I hang up, not giving her a chance to say anything. I hastily shove my bangs out of my face before walking back inside the coffee shop. When he hears the jingle on the door, Jay looks up at me, giving me a sympathetic smile. "I got you a refill," He tells me as I take my seat across from him._

" _Thanks," I mumble laying my phone down on the table in front of me. He stays silent, watching as it lights up and I quickly hit ignore when I see it was my mom. We continue this process a few more times before he speaks up. "So, I'm guessing it went well huh?"_

 _I laugh sarcastically, as I look up and meet eyes with him. "Yeah, it went really well."I pause and let out a sigh. "She did it," I mumble glancing down at the table and playing with my coffee cup. I suddenly had no urge to look at him, to see the hurt in his eyes. "And apparently she never sent all my letters to you. She threw them out."_

 _He stays silent, but reaches across the table and takes my hand in his, intertwining our fingers for the second time that night. I smile softly at our hands before glancing up at him. He was staring at me, a mix of hurt and love in his eyes and the sight took my breath away._

" _She sends her love though," I tell him, trying to joke my way through the awkwardness that this whole situation was._

 _He scoffs, as he squeezes my hand. "Yeah, I bet she does." His eyes were glued to our hands._ _"She never did like me..." he mumbles, turning to glance out the window._

" _Jay, I'm sorry." I start, my eyes studying him as he glances back up and locks eyes with me once again. "I had no idea she did this. I feel so bad walking around and blaming you, and hating you for the past nine years. It isn't fair to you – "_

" _Erin stop it," he says quietly, but the sternness in his voice is enough to make me stop dead in my tracks. When he realizes he has my full attention, he continues on. "I believe you when you say you had no idea it was going on. I should have known something was up when I went and saw your mom –"_

" _Wait, what?" I interrupt him and he gives me a sad smile._

" _About five years ago, when I moved home from base, right before I went into the academy, I went back to your house. I knew it was a long shot but I wanted to at least try and get in contact with you. I went to your mom's house and of course, you had long moved out. I really should have thought of that, but like an idiot, I didn't. So when I asked her for your address, or at least your phone number, she wouldn't give them to me. She told me that you were doing good and that you had a good job. She said you had moved on and you were happy with your life. No matter how hard I begged her to help me, she wouldn't. She said she wouldn't let me hurt you again and then slammed the door in my face."_

" _Jay – "_

 _He shakes his head no, and squeezes my hand, continuing on with his story. "I even went as far as to try and track down Nadia. I was at the store and I ran into Jordan, you remember him?" He pauses, looking to me. I nod my head, in reference to Nadia's now ex boyfriend. "He gave me Nadia's number but apparently they hadn't had contact in a while because she had switched numbers. I tried for months to get in contact with you Erin, but Chicago is a big city. After a while, I wasn't getting anywhere and I decided to spare myself the heart break. I figured it was a long shot that I would ever find you again."_

" _Jay, I –"_

" _I love you Erin, I always have, and I always will. That is why I tried so hard to find you, I wanted to tell you that, but I couldn't find you no matter what I did. My life hasn't been the same since that day I left for training. I've regretted it every single day."_

" _Jay," I mumble, retracting my hand from his and shaking my head. "You don't love me – you love the idea of me."_

 _He instantly shakes his head. "Erin, that's not true –"_

" _Jay" I say, a bit sternly this time, and he stops. His eyes never leave mine and I watch as a bit of sadness washes over them, as if he knows what I'm getting at. "You don't love me. You have a fiancé, and you two seem perfect for each other. Sure, you're the most random couple in the entire world, but you two are perfect. If you loved me, you wouldn't be with her."_

" _You don't understand what I'm saying here Erin." He says reaching out and grabbing my hand again. I try to pull it away, but he holds it tighter. "I do love you – more than anything. I met Brittany after all this happened, and I figured I would never see you again. So, I went out with her on what was supposed to be one date and now all these years later, I'm engaged. I don't know how it happened but I never wanted this. Not with her – it was supposed to be me and you. Remember?"_

" _I remember," I reply, thinking back to the night after the football game when he gave me his class ring and promised me that he would one day marry me and give me the life that I had always wanted. "I remember well, but that doesn't change the fact that you are engaged Jay."_

 _Again, he shakes his head. This time, he looks frustrated. "Damn it, Erin. I love you, not her! I don't want to be with her, why don't you understand that?"_

" _Jay, until you do something about that, we can't be together. I won't be the other woman."_

" _You're not the other woman Er, and you know that. You're_ _ **the**_ _woman."_

" _Jay – "I start, but again, he cuts me off._

" _No Erin, damn it. I love you and I know you love me." He says leaning up and reaching into his pocket. He closes his hand around whatever it was and reaches for my hand. He opens it and lies something in it before speaking. "And don't say you don't, because if you didn't still love me, you wouldn't have worn that around your neck for all these years."_

 _As he speaks, I glance down to find that he had put his class ring, the one I had given back to him just this morning, in my hand. I smile slightly at the sight of it before glancing up at him. He had a worried, fixated look on his face as he watched me, waiting for what I had to say._

 _I open my mouth to speak, only to be cut off by Josh who was still standing at the counter. "Erin, I hate to interrupt but I have to close, I've already let you guys stay an hour over."_

 _At his words, I glance up at the clock on the wall and my eyes widen when I see it was the truth, and that it was getting late. "Shit Josh, I'm sorry." I say, moving to stand up._

 _Jay follows suit and we move to the front of the store. I quickly pull a twenty out of my pocket and hand it to Josh, telling him to keep the change before turning to face Jay. I step forward, placing the ring in the small pocket on the chest of his jacket._

 _He watches with a sad smile as I do so before glancing up at me._

" _I do love you Jay and I always will, but I won't do anything about it as of right now. You owe it to Brittany to test out what you have with her." And with that, I turn and head for the door. I step outside and turn to look at him. "Come on, I need to get you back to your car. I'm sure she's worried about you."_

"Wait a minute," Nadia practically shouts, jumping out of her seat. "You're mom did _what_?" I just nod my head, my face mirroring the same look of disgust as her. "What a bitch, Erin – "

But before she could finish her sentence, there's a knock on the door and we both freeze, looking to one another. "Who could that be?" I ask, glancing at the clock on the wall and finding that it was long after midnight. I hadn't realized she and I had been talking so long. "Are you expecting someone?" I ask glancing over my shoulder at her as I make my way to the door.

She shakes her head no as I reach up and glance through the peephole. A small smile forms on my lips and my heart starts to speed up when I see who it is. Without a second though, I flip the lock and swing the door open. Before I know what is going on, he has his arms around my waist and has me pushed against the wall, his lips on mine.

We pull away a few moments later, both in dire need of oxygen, as Nadia cat calls from down the hall. We both turn our gazes her way, still against the wall. I shoot her a glare, earning a chuckle from her. "Hey Nadia." He chuckles, his smirk evident in his voice.

This time, she smirks. "Welcome back, Jay." She shoots us a wink before turning and heading toward her bedroom. "I'll be wearing my ear plugs tonight, but try not to go too crazy."

"Nadia!"I exclaim, earning a giggle from her as she rounds the corner. Jay, in return, chuckles as well before turning back to me. His hands slowly slip up to frame my face as I lean back against the wall and glance up at him.

"What are you doing here?" I ask, trying to hide my smile but failing miserably. One kiss, two seconds in his arms and I felt like I was seventeen again. It was the best feeling in the world.

"I missed you," He murmurs, before leaning down and kissing me softly. "I have a lot of missed time to make up for." He mumbles his lips still on mine.

I allow him to kiss me once more, and within seconds, I'm breathless and can't think straight. I manage to push him back slightly so that our lips were no longer touching, but he keeps his hands on my face. He smirks down at me as I look up to him, still trying to form a single coherent thought. "What?" I ask, taking in the pleased look on his face.

"I left you breathless didn't I?" He asks, his smirk growing and I laugh, smacking his shoulder.

"Shut up," I mumble and he leans down kissing me again. This time, I kiss him back but quickly push him back. "I'm not letting you get that satisfaction again." I inform him, finally coming around.

He just chuckles in response, as he glances down at me, waiting for me to finish speaking. "Seriously, what are you doing here?"

He finally lets his hands slip from my face, but quickly wraps his left arm around my waist, as he reaches into his jacket pocket with his right hand. "I'm bringing this beauty back to its real owner," He says pulling the ring out of his pocket and placing it back in my hand.

I glance down at it before looking back up to him. I find him smiling down at me, a true, honest, smile. "Jay, it is your ring, not mine."

He shakes his head. "No, it belongs to you. I gave it to you all those years ago for a reason. It held a purpose remembers?" I just nod. "It still does. Erin, I want to be with you. I want to take you out on dates, buy you things you deserve, I want to marry you," His arm around my waist snakes further, and pulls me into his embrace as his right hand slides up my neck to cup my face once more. He gently brings my face up to his, so that we were only inches apart. "I want to have a million children with you –"

"Wait a minute," I giggle. "A million? I don't think so buddy."

"Ok, ok." He chuckles, his lips ghosting over mine. "Maybe I exaggerated a bit, but a couple at least. Erin, the point is, I want it all, with you. Nobody else,"

"What about Brittany?" I ask, my eyes glancing back and forth between his beautiful blue eyes and his lips before my eyes redirect and stay focused on his lips.

He shrugged. "She was upset, but she understands Erin. She knew my heart was never fully in it."

My eyes snap up to meet his. "Wait, so you two called it off?" He simply nods, watching me intently. He was waiting for me to make the next move, and honestly, I didn't have to think twice before I jumped up into his arms and crushed my lips against his.

It had been many years in the making, with too much heartbreak to count, but I had somehow finally managed to get my happy ending. I knew the future wouldn't be easy in the least bit either, but I was prepared to take it on full swing. If it meant that I finally got the boy - no, the man – of my dreams, I was willing to do anything to keep him. He was finally mine again, and I wasn't letting him go for anything.


	3. Prologue part 3

"But dadddyyyyy" A four year old Jaelyn whines, throwing herself in the middle of the floor. "I want to talk to mommy before I go to sleep!"

Jay leans against the door framing, his arms crossing his chest. He watches his daughter, trying to keep from laughing at her. Much like her mother, she was a bit dramatic, but he found it adorable. And much like he did with her mother, Jay had a hard time being serious and disciplining the young girl when she acted as such.

"I know you do baby girl, but you know Mommy is in New York working." He says walking across the room, to scoop his daughter up in his arms. Erin had been sent to New York to gather some information for a case they were handling from the SVU team there, who had a similar case a few months prior. She flew out yesterday, via Voight's orders, and was set to return by the time he and Jaelyn were awake the next morning. He had wanted to be at the airport to pick her up, but Erin had threatened his life, telling him he was not getting their daughter out so late. He wasn't happy, but agreed, so Ruzek and Burgess were going to pick her up and drive her home so she got there safely.

"It will be late before she's done." Jay informs his daughter, making his way over to her toddler bed with her in his arms. He sits on the tiny bed, despite the fact that he was entirely too tall to sit on it, and brings her to rest in his lap.

She looks up to him, with tears in her eyes, and he feels a tug on his heart. He reaches out, pushing her unruly curly hair out of her face and presses his lips to her forehead. "Hey, what do you say you come and sleep with daddy in his bed tonight?"

She doesn't say anything, just nods as he stands up, still holding her tightly in his arms and makes his way down the hall to his and Erin's bedroom.

Two hours later Jay lay in his bed, on his back with his left arm under his head as his eyes were glued to the TV across the room. Jaelyn had long passed out, and curled into his side fast asleep, having not stayed awake ten minutes into her movie of choice. His right hand ran up and down her back soothingly, a motion he didn't realize he was doing but an action that had helped lull her to sleep so easily.

Jay wasn't sure why he still watched the movie with his daughter fast asleep, but as the credits scrolled up the screen, he laughs at himself. He had just spent the last two hours of his Saturday night curled up in bed with his sleeping daughter, watching Frozen. Parenting had changed him, but he had no complaints.

Suddenly, his phone lights up on the nightstand beside him and a smile creep across his face when he sees Erin's picture on the screen. He carefully reaches over and shuts the TV off before picking up the phone, answering it. "Hey baby, how's New York?"

He hears her groan, and he feels an ache at the sound of her voice. He hadn't realized how much he missed her, even if she had only been gone a day and a half. After all those years apart, any time without her by his side was too much. "It's ok, but I would much rather be back home with my two favorite people."

He smiles, glancing over to Jaelyn, who was fast asleep next to him – her hair spread across the pillow and her mouth open wide. He chuckles slightly. "We miss you too."

"What is my baby girl doing?"

Jay bites his bottom lip, debating his answer. He sighs, going ahead and telling her, just preparing for the backlash. "Oh she's just laying here cuddled up with her daddy, dead asleep."

"Awh, I bet you're enjoying that." Erin mumbles, with a smile on her face. The sight of her husband and her daughter snuggled up together as they slept always had been, and always will be, her favorite thing on this planet. He was so protective over her, and such a good daddy to their little girl that Erin's heart swelled every time she watched them together.

When she hears nothing but silence from Jay's end, her voice turns stern. She finally understood what Jay had been implying. "Jay Alexander Halstead, please tell me our daughter is not in our bed." She barks, but is only met by silence from her husband. "Jay, we just got her sleeping in her own bed, she will never go back now!"

He chuckles, not feeling guilty in the least bit. Although it had a tendency to take a toll on his alone time with Erin, he also didn't mind snuggling up to his two favorite girls every night. It was what he looked most forward to after a long day of work, especially when they were forced to face the reality that not all children were as lucky as their little girl. That some, often paid the price for something out of their control, something they didn't deserve. "Babe, you didn't see the bitch fit that she threw, or the giant puppy dog eyes she gave me when I told her she couldn't talk to her mommy before bed because she was working." This time, the line is silent from Erin's end.

"Alright, fine. You win. But tomorrow, I will be back to see her before bed, and you will be the one to deal with her screaming tantrums because she doesn't want to sleep in her bed. And you will **not** back down."

"Works for me," He mumbles, turning watching Jaelyn as she sleeps peacefully. He reaches out, running his hand across her cheek, watching as she stirs slightly, but snuggles further into him after. His smile grows at the slight action. "So, how's my line backer?" He chuckles once more when he hears Erin groan on the other side of the line.

"Jay, I'm only eight weeks, we don't know that it is a boy. It could very well be another girl." She argues, plopping down in her seat, her hand coming to rest on her still flat stomach.

"Oh, as much as I love being outnumbered by girls around here, it's a boy."

Erin giggles. "And how are you so sure?"

"Daddy just knows." He replies, fighting a smirk as she bursts out into full laughter.

"More like wishes." She taunts, after composing herself.

"Maybe so," He says, his smirk growing. "But just think Er, we have this perfect little girl, who without a doubt is giving us both a run for our money." He hears Erin chuckle slightly and he glances back over at his daughter. "I'm serious, in no time I will gladly be beating the boys away."

"Oh you don't have to do that babe," Erin buts in, earning Jay's attention that had been directed onto their daughter, as he watched her sleep peacefully. "All they have to do is take one look at you and they will take off running scared."

"Good point." He mumbles, earning another giggle from her.

"And if you don't scare them off, then they have to deal with Grandpa Voight." She adds, earning her a glare from her husband, even if she couldn't see it.

"First off, are you saying I'm not scary?"

"No babe, you are plenty scary when you want to be and all the boys will be scared of you, but come on. You know how scary he can truly be."

"Oh don't remind me…" He pauses. "But seriously, don't you think a crazy hellion little boy would add perfectly to the insanity that is this family?"

"If he's anything like you, then yes. I can picture that." He can hear the smile in her voice, and he can't help but smile in return. They stay in silence for a few minutes before he speaks up.

"So when are you going to tell Voight actually?" He asks, hearing her let out a harsh sigh. "He has to know Erin; because pretty soon not only are you not going to be able to fly back and forth from Chicago to New York, but it is dangerous for you to be working in our unit now that you are pregnant."

"Not with you watching my back." She replies, not skipping a beat.

"Erin –"

"I know, I know. I'm going to tell him, just give me a bit ok? I can still work for a few more months, at least until I start showing before they stick me on desk duty alteast." He sighs, and she quickly adds more. "I promise, as soon as I start to show, I will gladly withdrawal from the field myself, become the unit secretary and give Nadia a much deserved break. "

Jay lets out another sigh. "Fine, but if you haven't told him in a month, then I am."

She stays silent, debating his deal. It was fair, seeing as how she should start to show by around that time. "Deal."

"Good," He replies, smiling slightly. "God Er, I miss you so much."

"I miss you more handsome, just a few hours and I will be home with you guys."

"Jay" At the persistent pushing on his shoulder, Jay lets out a heavy grunt and rolls onto his side. He was dead set on staying asleep. "Babe, wake up."

He sighs, rolling to lie on his back once again. He slowly opens one eye, keeping the other firmly shut as he takes in the sight of his beautiful wife sitting on the side of the bed, her hand resting on his knee.

A smile forms on his lips as he pushes himself to sit up in the bed and drink in the sight of her, the only source of light being the dim lamp resting on his bedside table. Despite the fact that she had no doubt been running herself ragged for the last two days, and she had just gotten off a plane, she had never looked more perfect to him. With her blonde hair pulled on top of her head in a messy bun, no makeup, a pair of baggy sweatpants and one of his sweatshirts covering her still flat stomach, he had to stop and take a moment to take it all in. He was so madly in love with the woman sitting on the side of the bed, it made his heart swell.

"Hey baby, how was New York?"

She gives him a tired smile. "How about I tell you while you make me some pancakes?"

He gives her a look, signaling that she was crazy as he glances to the clock resting on her bedside table. "Erin, it is six am."

"I know that," She says reaching out and taking his hand before placing it on her stomach. "But he doesn't. Baby wants pancakes."

He lets out a chuckle, already pushing back the comforter. He couldn't argue with her logic. "Then pancakes the baby shall get. Come on pretty girl." He reaches down, holding out his hand. She glances up at him, giving him a small smile before taking his hand and allowing him to pull her up and down stairs to the kitchen.

An hour later, Jay and Erin sat at their kitchen table, their half empty plates pushed to the middle of the table while they talked. Jay was drinking a cup of coffee, while Erin watched him pitifully.

"Jay –"

"Erin, no."

"Come on," She argues, fighting the urge to roll her eyes. "Just a sip."

"Oh please," he mumbles sitting his mug on the table, and then picking it up again and moving it from her reach. "You and I both know you cannot have just a sip of coffee. It's not in your DNA Erin Halstead."

She sighs, rolling her eyes. "Ok true, but Jay –"

"No Erin, we both decided you would not drink any coffee while you were pregnant."

"Yeah, well I was young and stupid my last pregnancy when I agreed to that. I didn't realize how much of a bitch it would be." This earns a chuckle from him, as he recalls how bitchy she truly got when she was pregnant with Jaelyn. "Do you honestly want to willingly put yourself through that again?" She raises an eyebrow at her husband.

"Erin, my earliest memories in this life include you and your bitchy attitude and mood swings… and yet, I still married you. I think I can handle it."

She cracks a smile, starting to speak, but stops when they hear tiny footsteps. They both turn to face the doorway as Jaelyn walks in. Her hair was a mess, and she was rubbing her eye as she was still half asleep. "Daddy?"

"Yes princess?" he asks, sitting his mug back on the table and turning to face her.

She quickly shuffles across the kitchen floor, not noticing her mother sitting at the kitchen table, and crawls in to her father's arms. "I woke up and you were gone."

Erin smiles as she watches her husband wrap his arms around their daughter and hold her close as Jaelyn snuggles into his chest, fisting his white t shirt in her tiny fist.

"Well, I'm sorry baby girl but I came to make mommy and your little brother some breakfast."

For the first time since she had entered the room, Jaelyn's eyes open wide. Her head snaps up from Jay's chest and she whips around to find her mother sitting at the chair at the end of the table. A huge smile spreads across her face as she jumps from her father's arms and runs to her mother. "Mommy, you're home!"

Erin giggles, leaning down to scoop up her daughter. "I am baby girl," She squeezes her daughter tightly, placing a kiss to her forehead. "And I missed you sooooooo much!"

"I missed you more mommy!" Jaelyn eagerly informs her mother, hugging her back just as tight. "Daddy's Mac and cheese isn't as good as yours!"

At this, Jay's eyes widen as his daughter glances over her shoulder at him. He feigns hurt, clutching his chest lightly. "Jaelyn Brooke, that hurts."

This just causes a fit of giggles from both Erin and Jaelyn, the sounds causing Jay to break out in a smile. The sound of his girls laughing was his favorite thing on this planet.

"That's because daddy doesn't add enough cheese," Erin informs her daughter, speaking softly as she leans down to talk in her ear directly. Jay shoots her a look anyway, and she has to fight to not laugh. "But you know what daddy is really good at making?"

"Pancakes!" Jaelyn shouts, practically throwing herself out of her mother's lap with her normal four year old outburst.

"That's right!" Erin giggles as Jay pushes himself out of the chair to make some more pancakes. He stops briefly to plant a kiss on his daughter's cheek and his wife's lips before walking over to the cabinet to pull out the batter.

"Thank you daddy," Jay glances over his shoulder to his daughter, where she was still resting in her mother's lap as Erin fought to get her curly mop into a pony tail. "Luh you."

For the millionth time in the last two days, he fills a tug at his heart, although for an entirely different reason. Despite the fact that Jaelyn was four years old, and could speak clearly, she had said 'luh you', instead of 'love you', since the day she was able to talk. Both he and Erin found it adorable, so they never pushed her to say 'love you.'

After finally winning her battle, Erin ties the pony tail around her daughter's hair and glances up to lock eyes with her husband. They share a loving smile before he replies. "Luh you too baby girl." He shoots his daughter a wink and she cackles before he turns back to her pancakes.

He finishes mixing it up in the bowl and was just about to pour it on to the skillet, when Jaelyn's urgent squeal stops him. "Daddy, don't forget Minnie!" She exclaims, referring to the Minnie Mouse mold that she often insists they use when making her food, whether it be a pancake, waffle or even a PB&J sandwich.

He chuckles to himself as he reaches into the drawer to pull out the mold. He was forever wrapped around her tiny finger, much like he was her mother. "Of course princess, what was I thinking? Two Minnie Mouse pancakes coming right up."


	4. Chapter ONE

**Hey guys, I'm sorry for making you all wait so long for this chapter! I've been busy transitioning from my old job to my new one and I wanted to get a little bit of this story written before I posted it! That's a new thing for me, and I'm glad I've done so! It has really given me some time to figure out what direction I wanted to take this story in, and I think I have it figured out! ;)**

 **Anyways, this chapter is short and a bit spastic, so I apologize. It is a bit of filler, but it is important for the rest of the story. Plus, I really want to do different chapters of each month of Erin's pregnancy. This chapter in particular features two, as I didn't have much inspiration for either month, but from here on out each chapter will only feature one month at a time!**

 **Hope you all enjoy, and please leave me a review. Have a wonderful week!**

* * *

 **10 Weeks Pregnant**

"Coffee," Erin grumbles, walking into the kitchen. Jay sat at the breakfast bar, flipping through a file, with a steaming cup of coffee in hand. He glances to his wife as she enters, raising an eyebrow at her as she mumbles to herself. "I need coffee."

"Oh no you don't," Jay argues, quickly jumping out of his seat and meeting her at the kitchen counter. He grabs the coffee pot from her, earning a death glare that could easily put him six feet under. "Erin we talked about this and you can't have any coffee while you're pregnant!"

"But Jay, I was up _all_ night with a sick four year old. It took me hours to get her calmed down and asleep and as soon as I did, _this one_ " She says, pointing to her stomach, earning a small smile from Jay. He was still in shock that he and Erin were having another baby, but so over the moon at the same time. "Decided it would be funny to make mommy very very sick. I've had roughly forty five minutes of sleep all night and I have to be at work in an hour pretending that everything is perfectly fine!"

"Maybe you should tell Voight then." He grumbles, earning yet another glare from his wife. Over the many years he has loved Erin Lindsay, he has quickly learned that, that look meant to shut up and try a new approach. "Sorry Er, I know you've had a rough night but I was up with her too. I tried to make it easier on you."

"And as soon as she passed out, so did your ass. You managed to sleep throughout my getting sick. Not to mention, you can _have_ coffee!" She rattles off, clearly annoyed as she throws her hands in the air for emphasis.

Jay offers her a small, sympathetic smile as he reaches out and snakes an arm around her waist. He had forgotten how moody she was when she was pregnant, and how every little thing annoyed her in the beginning, but he wouldn't trade it for anything.

He pulls her into him, and she doesn't fight him as her head rests on his chest. Her eyes drift shut and she wishes for nothing more than for the day to stay exactly like this, but it was never going to happen. "I'm sorry baby, I really am, I just don't want this kid to come out with three heads."

With her arms still wrapped tightly around her husband's waist, Erin pulls her head away from his chest so that she could glare up at him. "If I have to give up coffee, then why don't you? You helped make this damn kid; I think it is only fair."

Jay chuckles slightly, running his hands up and down her arms soothingly. "If it will make this easier on you, I'll gladly give up coffee for the rest of your pregnancy."

"Wait," Erin mumbles, melting slightly. Her husband was the best. "You would really give up coffee for me?"

"Yes baby," He laughs, pulling her back into his chest and kissing her forehead sweetly. "I would do anything for you; surely you know that by now."

"Of course I do," She says slipping her arms around him once more. "I love you Jay."

"I love you more Er," He says giving her a slight squeeze. He only loosens his grip on her when she yelps out in pain. He pulls back, frantically checking her over. "What? What's wrong?" He asks, as her hands come to her chest.

She grimaces. "I'm sorry, I'm just sore."

Jay nods knowingly. "You're to that point huh?"

"Unfortunately, I'm sick of it already."

"Are you sure you want to work today? I can go in and you can stay here with Jaelyn and take it easy for the day."

Erin laughs slightly, patting her husband's chest. "Nice try buddy, but I stayed home with her last time she was sick. It is your turn."

Jay nods his head, laughing slightly. "I wasn't trying to get out of taking care of her; I'm just worried about you. You need to be taking it easy. And since Voight doesn't know yet, there is nobody looking out for you if I'm not there."

"Jay, I'll be fine." She places her hands on his shoulders, using it as leverage to rise up on her tip toes to kiss him. "I promise."

Unconvinced, Jay nods his head while chewing on his bottom lip. "If anything happens to you," Jay's hand slowly comes to rest on her stomach. Her stomach was just starting to round out, but was still unnoticeable if you weren't aware of her being pregnant. "Either of you, then I will personally kick Ruzek's ass."

"I would expect nothing less of you babe," She says placing a soft kiss to his lips. "But seriously, we're going to be fine. Now, I'm going to finish getting ready since you won't let me have any coffee."

Jay leans down, planting one last kiss to his wife's lips before she turns to walk away. She giggles when she feels him pat her butt, and begins to make her way to the living room, trying not to trip on Jaelyn's toys in the middle of the floor. "We really need to start looking for a new place to live like we discussed, this place is not big enough for another kid and everything that comes with having a baby."

Jay chuckles, taking his seat at the island once more. "Dually noted babe."

* * *

 **12 weeks pregnant**

"Erin, what is taking so long? We're going to be late." Jay says walking into his and Erin's bedroom. He stops in the doorway, a small smile creeping across his face at the sight. He leans against the door frame, his arms folding across his chest.

Erin's eyes stay focused on the mirror in front of her. She was turned sideways; running her hand over her bare baby bump. She was growing more and more noticeable every day, and Jay hated when she worked so hard to keep it covered while at work. When they were in the privacy of their home, she was lenient about it. "I'm getting big Jay." She pulls her eyes away, and to her husband standing in the doorway.

He nods his head, his smile growing. "You are, and you look so beautiful."

Erin rolls her eyes good naturedly and turns back to the mirror. "My jeans don't fit anymore. I hate maternity clothes."

"Good news is they've gotten less granny looking since you were pregnant with Jaelyn."

"You're not helping Jay." She mumbles, as he walks across the room and slips his arms around her. He pulls her back against him, and rests his hands on her bare stomach, rubbing soft circles on her skin. Erin relaxes back into his arms.

"I'm sorry," He mumbles, placing a kiss to her temple. "I'm just trying to make you feel better about the whole thing."

"I know you are," She says resting her hand on top of his and patting it slightly. "As much as I don't want to, before long I'm going to have to buy some."

"We'll go this afternoon, but we really have to get going or we are going to be late. I don't feel like undergoing the wrath of Voight today."

Erin nods, removing herself from her husband's arms. "Ok, just give me a minute and I'll be ready. Go make sure the girl is good to go."

"Yes m'am." He mumbles, leaning down and planting a soft kiss to her lips, before turning and heading out of the room.

Erin walks across the room and browses through their closet. After a few minutes of debating, Erin decides on a simple flowy sundress. She quickly slips it on, grabs a pair of sandals and heads downstairs where her husband and daughter are waiting on her.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, Jay pulls the car up in front of Hank's house and puts it in park. He glances over to his wife, taking her hand in his. "You ready for this?"

Erin glances from the house to her husband and sighs. "I guess."

Jay leans over and places a soft kiss to his wife's cheek before glancing in the backseat. "Jae, you ready to see grandpa?"

"Yeah!" Jaelyn eagerly shouts, squirming in her seat. She had been anxious to get out and inside to her grandpa since Jay had put the car in park.

Jay chuckles and climbs out of the driver's side, Erin getting out of the passenger. He walks around the back of the car and opens the door, unbuckling his daughter and sitting her outside the car. As soon as her feet hit the pavement, she sprints off toward the house. Voight was standing in the doorway, waiting for her.

Erin reaches over and intertwines her hand with Jay's as they make their way toward the house. They both laugh as the watch Jaelyn eagerly jumps into Voight's waiting arms. He squeezes the little girl, placing kisses all over her face. She was laughing so hard she couldn't breathe.

"Hey kiddo," Hank says tearing his eyes away from the little girl in his arms to Erin and Jay who were approaching the porch. "Halstead."

Jay nods in acknowledgment, before pushing past and following his daughter into the house. He finds Antonio and Ruzek in the kitchen, while Hank was pulling Erin in for a hug. Once they pull away, they make their way into the house as well.

Hank steps out back, to check on the grill while Erin heads to the living room in search of Nadia.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Nadia asks as Erin plops down on the couch next to her. She keeps her voice low, so that Kevin and Kim don't overhear her from across the room.

"Fine, I'm just nervous."

Nadia offers her best friend a confused look. "What, why are you nervous?"

"Because Jay and I finally decided we were going to tell Hank today."

Nadia's eyes widen in excitement. Next to Jaelyn, she was the only other person who knew about Erin's pregnancy. And much like the four year old, it was killing her to keep quiet about it. "Oh my god, Erin! That's so exciting!" She squeals, reaching out and pulling her best friend in for a tight hug.

"Shhh," Erin scolds, glancing over to Kim and Kevin who were now staring at them, confused. She waves them off, and with a shrug from Atwater, they continue with their conversation.

"Sorry," Nadia laughs, still hugging Erin tightly. "I'm just so excited you're finally telling so I can quit almost ruining it for you guys."

Erin laughs. "Yeah, you kind of suck at this."

"That's your own damn fault," Nadia mumbles, pulling away from the hug. "You knew going into this that I sucked at keeping secrets. Ain't that right little man?" Nadia quietly whispers, her eyes falling on Erin's tiny bump. She smiles, taking in its appearance, growing more and more with each day.

Erin groans, throwing her head back. "You and Jay, I swear. We don't even know if it is going to be a boy!"

"Oh, it is going to be a boy whether you want it to be or not." Nadia laughs. Erin starts to argue, but Jaelyn appears in the doorway.

"Mommy, grandpa says it is time to eat!"

"We're coming sweet girl." Nadia says pushing herself off the chair. She walks across the room and scoops the little girl into her arms, resting her on her hip. She makes her way to the dining room, with Erin, Kim and Atwater following along behind them.

Hank sits at the head of the table, Nadia to his left. Jaelyn quickly jumps to sit next to her while Erin takes the seat on the other side of her. Jay sits next to Erin, across from Adam. Kim snuggles into his side while Kevin and Antonio take the last two seats next to her.

"Dig in people." Hank orders, reaching for the platter in front of him.

"Wait," Erin says, earning a groan from Adam and Jaelyn both, causing the table to laugh. "I'm sorry guys," She says, glancing back and forth between her daughter and Adam. "But Jay and I have something important to tell you guys."

Jaelyn's eyes light up and she sits up straight in her seat as she turns to her parents. "You're telling them the _secret_?"

"Yes baby, we are." Erin tells her daughter, and Jay chuckles beside her. Already knowing Jaelyn's excitement in becoming a big sister, Nadia giggles slightly and pats her niece's knee.

"What secret?" Hank asks, growing impatient.

"Mommy is having a baby!" Jaelyn exclaims, beating her parents to it. She wore a huge smile as she glanced around the table, taking in everyone's shocked expressions.

Jay and Erin both laugh, at their daughter's outburst. They really should have known she wouldn't be able to hold it in, they were lucky she had held out this long.

"So you're pregnant?" Hank asks, breaking the silence.

Erin turns to her boss, the same man that had taken her under his wing so many years ago when she had first came to work for him. "I am, I was twelve weeks yesterday."

A small smile creeps its way on to Hank's face at the thought of having another kid running around the house. While Jaelyn was not his granddaughter biologically, she was in every other sense of the word. He loved that kid to death, and would do anything for her. He was excited to do the same with her little brother or sister.

He moves to stand up, and walks around the table to pull Erin into a tight hug. "Congrats kid, I'm happy for you." Everyone else at the table moves to follow after Voight in congratulating the expecting parents.

Hank turns to Jay. "You do realize what you've gotten yourself into yet again, don't you?" This causes Jay to laugh as he shook his boss/pseudo father in law's hand.

"Yes sir, I do."

"Just making sure, she about drove you crazy last time." Hank chuckles, and Erin shoots them both a glare as she was pulled into a vice grip hug from Kim.

"It was a good crazy." Jay answers, earning a true, honest smile from Hank. He had always liked Halstead, but he grew to like him more and more as he watched him with Erin and Jaelyn. Not only was he a good detective, he was a damn good husband and father.

"Awh man, just wait until this kid gets here. No girl is going to be able to turn me down." Kevin exclaims, earning a laugh from Antonio and Hank. Adam leans across his girlfriend to high five his friend, earning a smack to the shoulder from Kim herself.

"I don't think so," Erin buts in, sending her friend a dirty look. "You are not using my kid to pick up dates."

"What do you think he uses Jaelyn for?" Adam mumbles, getting a dirty look from his friend. "Afternoon in the park my ass."

"Seriously Atwater?" Jay asks, glancing to him. "You've been using my daughter to pick up women?"

"Hell why didn't I think of that?" Antonio mumbles, earning a chuckle from Hank who sat nearest to him.

"Oh come on man, look at that face!" Kevin exclaims, pointing to Jaelyn who was now resting in her aunt Nadia's lap. "Women can't say no to that face!"

"No more babysitting for you."

"Seriously! Give the rest of us a chance!" Adam exclaims, reaching out and filling his plate. "I'm going to teach this kid to play football!

Erin groans once more, as both Nadia and Jay laugh. "For the millionth time, _we_ _don't know if it is a boy_!"


	5. Chapter TWO

**Hey guys! Sorry for the delay, I'm still trying to get used to this new job and school is fixing to start up but I'm going to try and get this story updated as soon as I can! I appreciate you guys and your support!**

 **Also to the wonderful anon, thanks for not so loving words. If you think they're going to upset me, you're wrong. Have a good day ;)**

* * *

 **Sixteen Weeks Pregnant**

"Jay Alexander Halstead, if you don't hurry up and get your ass in gear we are going to be late!" A very annoyed Erin shouts, standing in the doorway of the hallway that leads to their bedroom.

"Mommy!" Jaelyn exclaims, her eyes widening as she watches her mother from across the living room. "You said a bad word!" Erin rolls her eyes, reaching in purse for her wallet. "Pay up!"

Erin turns to her daughter who was now standing in front of her, her hand waiting. She can't help but laugh as she hands a dollar over. Jaelyn loved to repeat everything she had heard, good and foul. It only took one time for her to blurt out a cuss word in public before Jay and Erin moved to put an end to it. Every time she caught one of them saying a word, they would forfeit over a dollar. This had quickly followed over to when she was with the unit. She has made a killing off of Ruzek so far. "There you go cutie, I'm sorry."

"Thanks momma," Jaelyn mumbles, eyeing the dollar while a small smile creeps upon her face. She whips around to face her father as he enters the room and holds the dollar up so he can see it. "Look what I got daddy!"

Jay chuckles as he reaches for his wallet and slips it in his back pocket. "Oh you got mommy did ya?" Jaelyn smiles and nods her head, causing Jay to laugh. He turns to his wife and she shoots him a glare. "Don't worry; she got me this morning when I tripped over the coffee table. She made quadruple from me than what she got from you."

"Yet another reason to get this show on the road," Erin says motioning to the door. "Let's go kiddo. We have to meet the realtor if we ever wanna get out of this tiny apartment."

"Why do we have to move mommy?" Jaelyn whines, heading to the door with her parents right behind her. "I like my room!"

"We know you do baby J," Jay says reaching down and scooping his daughter up in his arms, earning a hearty laugh to come from her as he throws her over his shoulder. He follows Erin out the door and she double checks behind him to make sure it was locked before they head down the hallway. "But with your baby brother –"

"Or sister," Erin corrects, as they reach the end of the hallway and she pushes the button for the elevator.

"Or sister," Jay chuckles following his wife into the elevator, moving his daughter to rest on his hip as he does so. "Coming we don't have enough room so we've got to find somewhere bigger."

"You're going to get a whole new room," Erin says, reaching over and pushing a curl out of her daughter's face. Seconds later it was back in the little girls eyes and she laughs before reaching in her purse and pulling out a clip. She pushes the curl out of the little girl's face before securing it in place. "And you're going to love it just as much. Wanna know how I know?"

"How?" Jaelyn asks, resting her head on her father's shoulder.

"Because you can decorate it however you want!" Erin shoots her daughter a wink, knowing full well that would grab Jaelyn's attention. Her current room was plain and simple, since they were not allowed to paint the walls of their apartment, that had formally belonged to Erin and Nadia before Jay moved back.

At that, Jaelyn's eyes light up and she raises up so that she was eye to eye with her mother. "I can decorate it with Elsa?"

"I'll buy you all the Elsa in the world baby girl." Jay says patting her hip affectionately. This causes Jaelyn's smile to grow and she tightens her hold around her father's neck before placing a kiss to his cheek. "I love you daddy."

"I love you too baby girl." He smiles, hugging her tightly. The elevator comes to a stop and Jay waits for Erin to step out before he follows her out and toward the front door of the building. Once outside, he buckles Jaelyn into her seat before moving around the car to the driver's seat. Erin wasn't showing much, but now when strangers looked at her they could easily tell she was pregnant. Now that she was getting further along, Erin had reluctantly given up driving - for the duration of her pregnancy anyway.

"Everyone ready?" Jay asks glancing from his daughter to his wife. Jaelyn quietly mumbles in response and Erin nods signaling she was good to go. "Alright then." Jay starts the car, and puts it into drive. He pulls out of the parking lot as he reaches over and resting his hand on Erin's thigh. He gives her a slight squeeze and she smiles up at him. "How you feeling?"

"I feel a million times better," Erin laughs slightly and Jay smiles in response as his thumb draws small circles over her jeans. "I'm not as nauseous and I know you like me a lot better because I'm not taking your head off as much."

Jay chuckles at that. "No disagreements here."

Erin rolls her eyes good naturedly as she reaches over and playfully smacks her husband's chest. This causes his chuckle to turn into full laughter. She soon follows after him. Soon enough, the laughter dies down and the small family grows quiet.

Jay glances into the rear view mirror and smiles when he sees his daughter was fast asleep already. He then turns to Erin, watching her as she stares out the window.

"You're staring again," Erin mumbles before tearing her eyes away from the window to face her husband. She smirks, letting him know he was caught.

"I can't help it, you look beautiful."

"Jay –"

"No, you do. You've got that glow about you. It looks good on you Erin Lindsay."

"Halstead," Erin says raising an eyebrow to her husband. "We've been married almost five years and you can't even remember that my name is Erin Halstead, not Lindsay."

"Oh I can never forget that pretty girl." He says, shooting his wife a wink. She smiles, glancing down to hide the fact that her face was turning red. Even after all these years together, he could still make her heart race and it amazed her more and more with each day.

* * *

"Well that was a waste," Erin says walking into their apartment and heading straight for the couch. Both Jay and Jaelyn follow after her. Jaelyn sits down at the coffee table in front of them and reaches for her drawing pad while Jay takes the seat next to her.

"Don't say that," Jay mumbles, snaking his arm around Erin's shoulders. She snuggles into his side and rests her head on his shoulder. "We still have plenty of time; we only looked at two houses."

"And they both sucked," Jaelyn mumbles, not tearing her eyes away from her notepad. She only turns to face her parents when she hears her father clear his throat. He doesn't even have to scold her, she knew better than to use that word. Instead, he held out a hand waiting for her to give a dollar back in return. It was their deal. Jaelyn rolls her eyes but eventually pulls the dollar out of her pocket and hands it back to her dad before going back to work on her drawing.

Jay shakes his head before glancing to his wife, who was biting her lip to keep from laughing at their daughter. "She is all you." He mumbles, causing her to laugh with a nod.

"That she is," Erin agrees, her hand patting his knee slightly. "How are you going to deal with three of me Halstead?"

"I have absolutely no idea." Jay chuckles, earning another playful smack from her. "I can't wait though, for this one to finally be here." He says as his hand snakes down her side to rest on her growing stomach. "And for us to be in our new home, that we _will_ find, and to just be a happy little family."

"Look at you getting soft on me Jay." Erin giggles, but stops abruptly as her hand flies to her stomach. Jay takes in her wide eyes and sits up a little straighter.

"Er, what's wrong?"

She shakes her head, a huge smile on her face. "I felt it move."

"Really? Was that the first time?" He asks, as she grabs his hand and places it in the exact spot she felt it seconds earlier.

"Yeah, it was." She smiles when she feels the faint movements once again. "There it is again, do you feel it?"

Jay's smile falters as he shakes his head. "No, I guess it's too soon for us to feel it yet."

"I'm sorry babe," She says glancing to her husband, offering him a sad smile.

He shakes his head, pulling her back into him. "It's ok, I'll feel it soon. I'm just glad you're getting to that point, it feels more real that way."

"It really does," Erin smiles, snuggling further into his side. The young family once again falls in to a silence and Jay begins to play with a piece of her hair.

"Er?" She doesn't remove her head from his shoulder, but she turns so she can glance up at him. "What do you say we take a small trip before the baby comes? Just the two of us?"

"That sounds amazing. When are you thinking?"

Jay shrugs. "We have a long weekend coming up in a few weeks. I figured Jaelyn could stay with Hank and we could get away for a few days while we still can."

"That sounds amazing actually; Lord knows we won't be able to take another vacation just the two of us for at least another eighteen years after this one is out of the house."

"So it's a deal?"

"It's a deal." She mutters before reaching up and capturing his lips with her own.

* * *

 **EIGHTEEN WEEKS**

"Er, you do realize she's only going to be at Hanks for two days right?" Jay asks as he watches his wife walk out of the apartment building and toward the car where he stood. He had just placed his and Erin's bags in the car, along with buckling Jaelyn in her seat. Erin had insisted he done so while she finished gathering the stuff that she and Jaelyn had gone through for her trip to Hank's.

"Yes smartass," Erin says shooting her husband a dagger, causing him to smirk in return. "This bag has all her clothes and her pajamas. She's got at least four pairs of each because she gets her indecisiveness from you." This causes his smirk to dissipate, and instead he glares at her in return. "This bag has all her toiletries, tooth brush, hair brush, headbands etc. and this bag, has all her toys because apparently she doesn't have enough at grandpa's house."

"She has an entire room full." Jay deadpans, Erin nodding her head. "You can barely walk through the door."

"Which is exactly what I tried to tell her, but she's stubborn as hell."

"She gets that from you, you know."

"Halstead, you are working my nerves this morning."

Letting out a slight chuckle, Jay raises his hands in surrender. "Sorry babe."

"Just take these," She says handing him the bags before moving to climb in the passenger seat of the car. Jay places Jaelyn's bags in the trunk along with his and Erin's before climbing in the driver's seat.

"You know I love you, right?" He asks, side eyeing his wife as he starts the car. A small smile tugs at the corners of his lips as she reaches over and grabs his hand. She intertwines her fingers with his and gives them a slight squeeze.

"I know, and I love you too." She mutters. "I'm sorry I'm so moody."

"It's fine Er, you have every right to be right now with this kid growing inside you. I just want to make sure you know that I do love you."

"I know you do Jay, you're the most amazing man. You're an amazing husband and father. I could never doubt that you love me, or Jaelyn."

He smiles faintly as he puts the car in drive before bringing her hand up to his lips. He places a soft kiss to her knuckles. "Good."

* * *

Erin can't help but laugh as she climbs out of the car and takes in her surroundings. "Ok so how long have you been trying to get me to Wisconsin Halstead?"

Jay chuckles as well as he walk around the car to join his wife. "Entirely too long." He mutters, slipping his arm around her shoulders and hugging her closely to him. "The only way I got you here was to keep it a secret from you."

"You are right, that is the only way you would have got me here." She laughs wrapping an arm around his waist and laying her head on his shoulder. "Ok Halstead, you got me here. Now what?"

"Well I was thinking we go in, stuff our faces with food that you don't allow Jaelyn to eat, and maybe take a little swim before we settle in on the couch where we stay all weekend in our pajamas. You know, just relax while we can."

"Sounds good, lead the way handsome." Erin says smiling up to her husband. He glances down to her and offers her that one smile that could still make her knees weak even after all these years, before pecking her lips.

"Come on," He ushers her down the small pathway leading to the cabin. He helps her up the three steps of the porch before rushing ahead of her to unlock the door. Once he had done so, he pushes the door open and then steps back allowing Erin to step in first. He smiles in victory as she glances around the giant cabin in awe.

Directly from the door, you enter upon a small foyer. The living room was off to the left, open and bright from the floor to ceiling windows. To the right of the foyer was the beautiful wooden staircase that led to the second floor, which housed the master suite and bath, two smaller bedrooms, and a game room. Straight ahead, was a decent sized kitchen, equipped with beautiful dark wood cabinets and up to date stainless steel appliances. Double glass panel doors lined the left hand wall of the kitchen, leading to the wooden deck that wrapped around the entire cabin. Once outside, you would find a BBQ pit and a family sized set of patio furniture. A hot tub was in the right hand corner of the back deck, next to the gate that led a flight of stairs to the in ground pool.

"So what do you say Er?" He asks his eyes full of glee. He was very excited to have finally gotten her there, after many years of arguing about it.

"It's beautiful," She mutters, turning to her husband with wide eyes. "I wasn't expecting this, I –"

"You heard cabin in the woods and assumed I was dragging you to some beat up shack in the woods to kill you."

Erin nods, laughing. "Pretty much."

A smirk creeps upon Jay's face. "Ok, since you now know the truth. What do you think? We can bring the kids here, maybe retire in the future?"

Erin tries her hardest to suppress her smirk, with little luck. "Slow down there Casanova, one step at a time. Why don't we see what Jaelyn thinks of it first?"

"Deal!" Jay exclaims, not able to hide his excitement anymore, before scooping her in his arms and crashing his lips to hers.


	6. Chapter THREE

**Hey guys, so here's a new chapter. I'm sorry I've made you all wait so long for it. I've been busy with work, school and my papaw. That has been four months of pure hell and it doesn't appear to be getting any better or easier. They've sent him home with hospice and they don't think he's gonna make it much longer. I appreciate the thoughts and prayers.**

 **This is a bit rough and that's all due to the fact I haven't written in almost two months and I've been dealing with writers block ever since. Hopefully I'll be back to updating soon, hope you all enjoy.**

* * *

 **Twenty Weeks Pregnant**

Jay was awoken by a groan. He slowly opens his eyes to see Erin struggling to climb out of bed. He suppresses a chuckle as he reaches out to touch her arm. "Where are you going?"

"I have to pee," She mumbles, gently pulling her arm from his grasp and finally managing to stand up. "Again." She walks across the dark room and steps in the bathroom. She flips the light on, momentarily blinding him before slamming the bathroom door shut.

With a yawn, Jay glances to his bedside table and groans when he sees it was only 3:30 am. He rolls back over and pulls the covers up. He was just about asleep when he hears the bathroom door swing open. A minute later, he feels the bed dip and he turns back to face his wife. He watches as she snuggles closer to the body pillow and he offers her a soft smile as he brushes out and pushes a strand of hair out of her face. "You excited about today?"

Erin's smile mirrors his own as her hand comes to rest on her stomach. "I've barely been able to sleep all night."

"Oh, I know." Jay chuckles and Erin rolls her eyes before reaching over and grabbing his hand. She places it underneath hers and Jay smiles when he feels a nudge against his hand. His smile grows. "God, I'll never get tired of feeling that. It's so cool."

"You say that because you're not the one who constantly has a baby playing soccer with your organs."

Jay can't help but grimace. "Ok, you win."

Erin shoots him a victorious smirk before closing her eyes. Her smile grows as she feels the baby continue to kick Jay's hand that was still on her stomach. He or she wasn't even here and they already were all about their daddy. "You know it is another girl right?"

"Bull," Jay argues instantly, tearing his eyes from her stomach to glance up at her face. "Lord knows I can't handle another daughter because the one we have is four and already has a boyfriend. She's slowly killing me Er, we need a boy. It's a boy."

"Oh so I can be the one stressing." Jay simply smirks. "He's going to be you made over and a total Casanova. Oh god, he's going to be hell." She mumbles, bringing her hands up to cover her face. "Thanks Jay,"

Jay chuckles. "Either way you look at it, one of us is going to be pulling our hair out."

"Oh gosh," Erin mumbles, still hiding behind her hands. "What in the hell did we get ourselves into?"

"I have no idea babe," Jay mumbles reaching over and grabbing her hand. He moves it away from her face before bringing it up to his lips. "But I wouldn't change it for the world." He mutters before placing a kiss to her knuckles, effectively melting her in the process.

* * *

Later that morning Erin sat on the exam table as she waited for her ultrasound to start. Nadia and Jay sat in the chairs next to the exam table, and Jaelyn sat in her father's lap. Her head was buried in his shoulder, as she was almost asleep due to the earliness of the appointment.

"Come on Er, are we actually going to do this?" Jay groans.

"Yes, we are." Erin says shooting her husband a look, causing him to coward back a little. Nadia laughs in triumph.

"But JUST this morning you were so eager to find out the sex!"

"And NOW I've decided I want to do it this way."

With a set jaw, Jay turns his attention from his wife to her best friend sitting next to him. "You, this is all you."

"Guilty as charged." Nadia smiles, turning to face Jay. "Come on Jay, it's just a few more days."

"Says the woman who will know today." He grumbles, earning an eye roll from Nadia.

"Do I need to put the four year old between you and separate you guys?" Erin asks, rolling her eyes at them. Before either could respond the door opens and Dr. Johnson comes in. She smiles at the group as she moves to sit down.

"Good to see you Erin, Jay." They both smile and nod in acknowledgment and she glances to the little girl in Jay's lap. "And I see my favorite little girl is asleep."

"Yeah, she's not too fond of the earliness of the appointment," Jay says glancing down at his daughter and brushing a curl out of her face. "But she wanted to see her brother."

"Sister," Erin corrects, shooting her husband a look. Jay chuckles, rolling his eyes good naturedly. Dr. Johnson laughs at the couple as she turns to face Nadia.

"I don't believe we've met."

Nadia offers a smile, reaching out to shake the Doctor's out stretched hand. "I'm Nadia,"

"Nice to meet you Nadia –"

"She's the crazy aunt." Jay interrupts, earning a glare from Nadia and an eye roll from Erin at their behavior.

"Ignore him," Nadia mumbles, smacking the back of Jay's head.

"I quickly learned that Erin's last go around." Dr. Johnson assures her, before turning to face the computer monitor. Both Erin and Nadia giggle, while Jay shakes his head.

"Do you hear the way they're talking to your daddy Jae?" He asks, glancing down at his daughter who was just about to slip into slumber. "You love daddy don't you?" He asks and she lazily nods her head yes before snuggling further into his chest. He smiles to himself before leaning down and planting a soft kiss to his little girl's forehead.

"So today is the big day," Dr. Johnson announces turning to face Erin before glancing to Jay. "Do we want to know the gender?"

"Actually," Erin speaks up, before her husband had the chance. "We've been talking and we've decided to do a reveal. So we were wondering if you could tell Nadia and she will take care of setting it up."

Dr. Johnson offers the group a smile as she nods for Erin to lie back on the table. "Of course I can! I'm just going to take a few measurements," She mumbles moving her device over Erin's stomach before typing away on her computer. "Then I will get the gender and Nadia and I will step out into the hallway."

"Sounds good." Erin nods, her eyes glued to screen. Both Jay and Nadia were doing the same as the Doctor studied her monitor.

A few minutes later, she shuts the screen off and moves to stand up before offering Erin a few paper towels. She thankfully takes them and begins to wipe the goo off her stomach as Dr. Johnson nods toward the door. "Ok guys, I'll have the nurse print off your pictures. Nadia, will you join me for a minute?"

"Of course," Nadia smiles, handing Jaelyn's coat that she had been holding to Jay before standing to following her out the door. She pulls it shut behind her, leaving the family alone.

"It is just a few days Jay," Erin says tossing the paper towels into the trashcan before pulling her shirt down over her stomach.

"I know," He groans glancing back down to Jaelyn who had finally gave in and fell asleep in his arms. He places another kiss to her forehead before glancing up at his wife. "I was just really excited to know."

Erin offers him a small smile. "I know you were, but Nadia will make it special."

"I know she will." He agrees, standing up. He moves Jaelyn around in his arms so that she rested on his side with her head buried in his neck before reaching out with his free hand to help Erin stand and step off the stool.

* * *

"There you guys are!" Hank says throwing open the front door of his house and stepping out onto the porch just in time to catch his granddaughter in his arms. "Hey kiddo!" He says placing a kiss to the child's temple as she wraps her arms around his neck and squeezes him.

"Hey grandpa!"

"I was starting to wonder if you were ever going to show up, dinner was starting to get cold."

"Sorry," Erin offers him a sympathetic smile as she and Jay follow him up the steps and into the house. "We got tied up looking at houses again."

"Oh, did you guys find anything?" Hank asks walking into the dining room and sitting Jaelyn in her seat before taking his own. Erin takes the seat next to Jaelyn while Jay sits across from her, on the other side of Hank.

"We did and we put in an offer." Jay says, glancing from his beaming wife to the man who was basically his father in law.

"Oh wow, how is it?"

"Two story brick house, about ten minutes from town. It has four bedrooms and a huge back yard for our girl to play in." Erin lists off, running her hand through her daughter's hair.

"And a pool!" Jaelyn exclaims, turning in her seat to face her mother, causing the three adults in the room to laugh. "Don't forget the pool mommy!"

"Of course not baby," Erin laughs. "It also has a pool in the back yard. It was clearly Jaelyn's favorite part."

"I can see that," Hank chuckles reaching forward to grab the spoon in the bowl in front of him. "Let's eat before this gets cold and then you can tell me all about that pool ok kiddo?"

Jaelyn eagerly nods her head as Hank plops a spoonful of potatoes on her plate.

* * *

"Alright, the girls asleep." Jay mutters walking into his and Erin's bedroom. He reaches behind to grab the collar of his t-shirt and pulls it over his head as Erin stands in the doorway of their bathroom rubbing Palmers Cocoa butter on her stomach.

"She fight it?" She asks rubbing the last bit in before pulling her t-shirt down over her stomach and walking into the bedroom.

"Nope," He says throwing his shirt into the laundry basket on the other side of their bed before collapsing down on top of it. "She was out before her head hit the pillow." His arm comes to rest over his eyes as he relaxes into the bed. Erin giggles at him and sits on her side of the bed, before snuggling into his side, the best she can.

Without moving from his current position, he reaches over and wraps his free arm around her shoulders so he could pull her closer to him. Erin smiles to herself and places a soft kiss to his chest, just above his heart before snuggling back in to his side. Eventually she allows her eyes to drift shut, and was well on her way to sleep. She could tell by the way Jay's breathing had evened out that he was as well.

However Jay's phone starts ringing, causing both of them to groan in disappointment.

"Just ignore it," He mutters turning to face her and wrapping his other arm around her as well. He buries his head in her chest and she giggles slightly before pushing him off of her.

"Jay we can't, what if it's important?"

Jay lets out another groan of disapproval as he disentangles himself from his wife and reaches behind him to his nightstand for his phone. He doesn't bother glancing at the caller ID before bringing it to his ear. "Hello?"

He turns back to face his wife, staying silent as he listens to the person on the other side of the line. Erin watches him, patiently waiting but suddenly grows curious when she notices his eyes bug out.

"Seriously? Oh gosh that's amazing! Yes, thank you!" Jay glances up and locks eyes with his wife, his smile growing. "You too, have a good night."

"What? What's going on?" Erin asks, growing impatient as her husband hangs up the phone.

"We got it," He mutters, causing Erin to sit straight up in the bed. Her eyes held curiosity but her smile grew as his did. "We got the house!"

"Oh my god!" She exclaims throwing herself at him. He catches her with ease and snakes his arms around her waist as she wraps her arms around his neck before she pulls him closer. She smiles up at him before crashing her lips to his. "We did it." She mutters her lips still on his. "We finally did it."

"That we did baby, that we did!" He replies before crashing his lips to hers once more.

* * *

Three days later the whole unit was once again gathered at Hank Voight's house, with their families. The tiny, but close, group was gathered in the back yard as they awaited the gender of Erin and Jay's newest family member. However, Erin, Jay and Nadia were all inside as she dealt with the stubborn couple.

"What is wrong with the clothes we have on?" Erin asks, shooting her best friend a look. "I like this dress."

"And it's downright adorable and you best believe the day I ever have kids, I'll be stealing it, but it doesn't fit for today."

"What are you talking about?" Jay asks, running a hand down his face, frustrated at this whole thing. He just wanted to know if it was a boy or girl already.

"Well Jaelyn and I discussed this in great length –"

"Wait a minute," Jay buts in, stopping her effectively. "You discussed this with our four year old?"

Nadia nods, as if it were the most obvious thing ever. "I sure did, and she even knows what it is."

"She what?" Erin exclaims, turning to her best friend with wide eyes. "The little brat told me she didn't know!"

"Same here," Jay adds, earning an eye roll from Nadia.

"You two suck at waiting out surprises."

"We're well aware," Erin mutters. "Now what is wrong with our clothes?"

"Oh right," Nadia mutters throwing her hands up in the air. "I gave Jaelyn the option of balloons or paint. She chose paint."

"Of course she did," Jay mutters, earning an elbow to the ribs from his wife. "Ow," He mutters once more.

"Just trust me on the jeans and white shirts ok? It's part of it, and it photographs better."

Erin lets out a sigh. "Ok fine, hand them over." She holds her arms out and Nadia smiles victoriously before handing them each their outfits.

"We want you downstairs in five minutes," She says ushering them into an empty bedroom and shutting the door. "Oh and Jay your card and receipts are in your pocket!"

"Oh great, I can't wait to see how much this all cost." He groans, stripping of his shirt before grabbing the white t-shirt Nadia was forcing him into.

Erin bends over and slips the jeans with the elastic band that Nadia had bought over her legs, before pulling them up. Next, she reaches for her dress and slips it over her head. "Shut up," Erin giggles wadding the dress into a ball and throwing it at her husband.

He dodges it successfully and sends her a smirk before reaching for the new pair of jeans she had supplied him with. "What's wrong with the jeans I have on?"

"Those are good jeans Jay; they don't get ruined that way!"

"Yeah, yeah." He replies slipping the new ones on. Once they were buttoned he reaches inside the pocket. Erin's hand grabs his, halting his movements.

"Don't you'll have a heart attack I'm sure. Let me have them."

He nods his head, knowing she was right before handing her the receipts. However he keeps his card and fishes his wallet out of his other jeans, slipping the card back in place before turning to Erin. "You ready?"

"Yeah, let's go find out that baby Halstead is yet another girl!"

"I believe you mean a boy!" Jay argues, following his wife out of the room and down the steps.

* * *

"Alright everyone shut up!" Nadia screams from her place on Hank's back patio, over the commotion that was all of Erin and Jay's friends and family. "Thank you!" She praises as the group grows silent. "I just wanted to say on behalf of the mom and dad to be, thank you for coming. I won't blabber on cause I know you all want to know what Baby Halstead is but we're glad you could all be here today. The second this reveal is over, we go shopping. The van is out front." She shoots a wink to the crowd as they all laugh.

"Ok Erin, Jay, put these on." She instructs, glancing to her two friends behind her, as Jaelyn walks over to her parents with two blind folds in hand.

"Thank you baby," Erin smiles at her daughter, taking the blindfold from her daughter. Jaelyn then turns toward Jay, offering him the second. He shoots her a wink and she cackles before running to stand next to her aunt Nadia once more.

The two slip the blind folds on and Nadia moves to stand next to them as Jaelyn moves over to where Adam stood with the camera. As per Nadia's request, he had been roped into filming this moment so that Erin and Jay could enjoy it for years to come.

"Alright guys, can you see anything?" She asks, waving her hands in front of both of their faces. Neither say a word but shake their heads no in response. "Ok good! Now Miss Jae you're up baby girl."

With a giant grin on her face, Jaelyn moves to stand in front of her parents, next to her aunt. "Ok Jaelyn is gonna take Jay's hands and dip them in the paint then place them on Erin's stomach. And just so mom and dad know, I'm standing in front of her until she places his hands on your stomach so nobody can see before you guys! Ok Jae, go ahead."

"I wanna do it too!" Jaelyn exclaims as her eyes suddenly tear up.

Hearing that little crack in his daughter's voice, Jay speaks up. He hated when she cried, and even though he couldn't see it, he knew it was coming. "Wait baby girl why don't you do one of my hands and one of yours?"

"Really?" Jaelyn asks in disbelief.

"Of course!" Erin exclaims as Jay sticks his hand out near where he thought his daughter stood.

"Go ahead baby." He urges her and smiles slightly when he feels her tiny hand grasp his larger one. Knowing full well that Nadia was holding the container of paint to help Jaelyn, Jay feels the coolness of the paint on his hand.

"Make sure you get his hand good and covered baby," Nadia whispers and both Erin and Jay smile at how good of an aunt she was to their little girl. "Good job," Nadia whispers once more as she removes his hand. "Now let's get yours covered."

A few seconds go by and then Nadia sits the container on the table behind them before moving to help Jaelyn place her and Jay's hands on Erin's stomach. She smiles as Jaelyn does just that. "Ok guys, take them off!" She exclaims.

She manages to step back so that everyone in the yard could see the two colored hand prints on Erin's shirt just as both Erin and Jay remove their blindfolds and glance down.

"I knew it!" Jay exclaims throwing his hand up in victory. Everyone in the yard laughs and cheers.

"I'm getting a brother!" Jaelyn exclaims, as if everyone else couldn't tell from the one tiny, and one larger blue hand prints on Erin's stomach.

"You sure are baby!" Erin giggles, full of glee. "We're having a boy baby!" She exclaims turning to face her husband.

"We are!" He exclaims reaching out and lifting her slightly off the ground. He spins her around in circles, causing her to laugh hysterically as she buries her face in his neck. Eventually he lowers her back down, and pulls her into him.

"Jay you're getting paint all over you!" She exclaims, glancing down between them.

"I guess that's why she got me the white shirt too." He laughs before cupping Erin's face. "I love you Er."

"I love you more Jay." She mutters before reaching up and capturing his lips with hers.

* * *

 **Please be kind and leave a review? Have a good night guys!**


	7. Announcment

Hey guys!

First off, thank you so much for the reviews and kind words on the last chapter! They've really meant a lot to me and pulled me through this past few days.

Sadly, on Saturday morning my grandfather passed away after his long four month struggle. I'm really upset, and he was the only grandparent I had left so I'm trying to get by, but I'm not having much luck. I just wanted to take a minute to thank you all for every prayer and kind word over the last few months. You guys seriously don't know how much you've helped me through this.

Having said that, the next few chapters will be a few days... I hope you all stick around.

Thank you all again so much!

Xoxo, Sara


	8. Chapter FOUR

**Ha, yeah I know I suck. It's been a long time since I updated… but between losing my papaw and work and school I haven't had much inspiration. This is a short once since I'm neaded out the door to work, but I wanted to get you guys a little something as a way to say thank you for being so patient and being so kind about waiting things out after my papaw. I have appreciated the thoughts and prayers, keep them coming! It's still a hard time for us!**

 **Hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

 **Twenty Four Weeks Pregnant**

"I don't remember this test taking so long with Jaelyn" Jay groans, sitting back in his chair. He slips his hands into his jacket pockets before looking toward his wife.

"That is because you got called out on a sting ten minutes into it," She replies, her eyes never leaving the magazine she was flipping through.

"Oh yeah" He trails off, glancing around the waiting room once more. He glances to the clock on the wall. "How long has it been anyway?"

Erin glances to the clock before turning her attention back to her magazine. "Should be within the next five minutes or so."

Jay opts to stay silent, but nods his head. He only lasts a few seconds before speaking up again. "Is sitting here not driving you crazy?"

"No babe, that's you." She says sitting her magazine down and glancing to him. "You have a shorter attention span that Jaelyn." She earns a glare from him and smiles before patting his thigh.

"I can't help it… this is just boring."

"I know, and I warned you it would be. You could have stayed home."

"I wasn't going to make you sit through this all alone." He says slipping his hand out of his pocket and snaking it around the back of her chair. She instantly leans into him and rests her head on his shoulder. "So what does that stuff taste like?"

"It's disgusting." She mutters causing him to chuckle. " and I'm starving."

"Me and you both," Jay groans, running his hand up and down her arm. "Nadia's got the girl for the afternoon, what do you say we go grab something to eat after this? Just the two of us before all of our friends and family invade us this afternoon."

Erin nods her head, laughing slightly. "You know the way to my heart Jay Halstead," She turns in his embrace to look up at him, and he chuckles. "I hope our son has your eyes."

"But then you'll never be able to tell him no either." Jay offers his wife a smirk, to which she rolls her eyes.

"Oh I'm well aware, but your eyes are the most gorgeous I've ever seen."

"Only because you've never seen yours." He mutters, leaning down so that his lips were only inches from hers.

"That was cheesy," Erin giggles.

"I know," He grimaces. "See what you do to me?"

"I love when you get all mushy." She giggles before leaning up to press a quick kiss to his lips.

"Erin Halstead," The two pull away at the mention of Erin's name and turn to see the lab tech standing in the door of the lobby. She offers them a smile. "You're up hun."

"Finally," She mutters as Jay stands up, and holds a hand out to her. She takes it and allows him to help pull her up before they follow after the tech.

* * *

"So once again tell me how you got out of doing any manual labor?" Adam asks walking into the living room and glancing to his fiancée, who was lying in the floor coloring with Jaelyn. Adam and Mouse were bringing in the Halstead's couch while Erin and Nadia were across the room unpacking boxes.

"I'm babysitting." She replies, her eyes never leaving the Frozen color book in front of her.

Adam rolls his eyes. "And why would they pick you? That kid loves her uncle Adam more than her aunt Kim, right Jaelyn?"

"I'm staying out of that." Jaelyn replies, reaching for a different color marker.

"Smart choice kiddo." Mouse says, sticking his hand out toward Jaelyn in passing. She smirks up at him and meets his fist, giggling in the process.

"You fucking traitor." Adam says, shooting his niece a dirty look. Her jaw drops as she lets out a shriek.

"Mouth, Ruzek." Erin scolds from across the room.

"Pay up Uncle Adam!" A very sassy Jaelyn exclaims, now standing in front of him with one hand on her hip, the other out stretched to him.

"You've got to be freaking kidding me." He mutters under his breath, fishing for his wallet while everyone else in the room laughs. He slaps the dollar bill in her palm before returning his wallet to his pocket. "I swear to god kid, you are more like your father with each passing day." This only causes Jaelyn to smirk at him before returning to her aunt Kim.

"Dude will you quit whining?" Jay asks walking in the front door, as he and Will brought in the love seat. Antonio followed along behind him a box in hand. "This whole day is the least you can do for us."

"What the hell have I ever done to you?" Adam asks, turning to look at his friend.

"You mean other than the fact that he knows you?" Will asks, glancing from Adam to his brother. The two Halstead's share a chuckle and Adam rolls his eyes.

"Don't you have to get back to saving lives or something?"

Will shakes his head, his hands come to rest on his sides. "Nope, I'm here to listen to you bitch all afternoon. Lucky me."

"Ruzek, come help us with the kitchen table before you get your sorry ass kicked." Antonio says walking toward the door, Mouse following along behind him.

Adam glances back and forth between the two Halstead brothers, who were both snickering, and follows after Dawson muttering under his breath.

"I don't know how you handle him Burgess." Will chuckles, heading for the door as well.

"I don't most days." She mutters in return, before turning back Jaelyn. "Your uncle Adam is crazy isn't he Jae?" Jaelyn eagerly nods her head, causing Kim to laugh.

"Er, you need to be taking it easy." Jay says walking across the room to where his wife was busy shuffling through a cardboard box. He slips his arms around her waist and she snuggles back into his arms. She smiles when he places his hand over her stomach, earning a swift kick from their little boy. "Look at that, he's already daddy's buddy."

Erin rolls her eyes, laughing slightly before turning around in his arms. She reaches up and wraps one arm around his neck as his hands come to rest on her lower back. He gently applies pressure to the one spot he knows always bothers her and she smiles up at him appreciatively. "You worry too much Halstead."

He shakes his head, smiling down at her. "I don't worry enough Erin. You're carrying my boy, you need to be careful."

"I am being careful baby," She says her hand brushing across his stubble covered cheek. "I'm just going through the boxes; Nadia is doing all the work."

"She's right Jay," Nadia says turning from where she was busy arranging the Halstead's family photo's on a nearby wall. "She's bossing me around and I'm doing all the hard work as usual."

Erin starts to respond, but stops when her phone goes off. Jay disentangles himself from his wife's grasps and walks over to his daughter as Erin steps into the kitchen to answer the phone. "What are you drawing short stuff?"

"It's our family, see?" She smiles as she hands the paper to her father before she moves to stand next to where he was squatted down. "That's you, and mommy and me… and that's my baby."

"Your baby huh?" Jay asks with a chuckle as his daughter rests back against him and he studies the picture in his hands. "Not mommy or my baby?"

"No!" She exclaims, turning in his arms. She takes his face in her tiny hands, laughing when his stubble tickles her hands. Her laugh causes his smile to grow. This little girl was his life and every little thing she did made his heart swell with pride. "MY baby!"

Jay chuckles at the conviction in her voice. "Whatever you say Jae." He glances toward the kitchen door, his face still in his daughter's hands, when he sees Erin step out. She takes in the sight of them and smiles. "Er, where you aware the baby in your stomach was Jaelyn's baby and not yours or mine?"

"Fine by me," Erin smirks. "Just remember little Jae, you have to change all the nasty diapers." She informs her daughter, grimacing slightly at the end.

Jaelyn turns from her mother, to her father with wide eyes. He has to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing at her adorable expression. She then turns back to her mother. "Eww, you can keep him."

Both Erin and Jay laugh, along with Nadia and Kim who were the only other ones in the room. "I figured you would see it that way cutie."

Jay places a kiss to his daughter's temple before she saunters back to her aunt Kim. Jay makes his way across the room to where his wife stood, hand on stomach, grimacing. "You ok?"

"What?" She asks, her head snapping up toward her husband. He watches her with careful eyes and she forces a smile. "I – I'm fine. He's just kicking hard."

Jay gives her a look, assuring her he didn't quite believe her, but he lets it go. "Who was on the phone?"

"The Doctor's office with the results of my test." Jay raises an eyebrow at her, as a signal for her to continue on. "I'm fine. Everything came back good."

"Oh thank God," He says leaning forward and placing a kiss to her forehead before he allows his lips to drop to hers. He offers her a quick peck and a breath taking wink before turning and heading out the front door after his friends.

Erin moves back to the box she had been previously working on, her hand still resting on her stomach. She would stop every few seconds, wincing in pain.

Having been secretly watching her from the box she was unpacking, Nadia looks up at her best friend. "Er, you sure you're ok?"

"What? Yeah – yeah I'm –"She never finishes her sentence before she doubles over in pain, letting out a painful groan.

"Kim, get Jay!" Nadia exclaims rushing to her best friend's side. She one arm around Erin's waist and the other takes a hold of her hand before she moves her to rest on the couch. "Come on Er, you're fine."

Kim jumps up and sprints to the front door to run after Jay while Jaelyn makes her way to sit on the couch next to her mommy. She places her tiny hand on Erin's leg and rubs it comfortingly.

"Yeah, you're fine mommy."

Erin smiles slightly, despite the pain that was radiating through her stomach at that moment. "I know baby, thank you."


	9. Chapter FIVE

**Alright guys, here another short chapter just to say thank you for sticking by my side. The semester will be over in a few weeks, and I'll be able to update more often! I'm sorry my writing has taken somewhat of a backseat to my school work, but this semester and next are very important in getting into my program, which gets me one step closer to graduation!**

 **Like I said, this is short, it isn't the best and it's a bit fast, but I had to get a little something out there just because I know you all want to know what was going on with Erin and the baby!**

* * *

"Will Halstead, you have no idea how much I hate you right now." A very annoyed Erin groans as she leans her head back on the hospital bed she was currently lying on in the middle of Chicago Med.

"Oh come on Erin, that hurts." Will says sending his sister in law that stupid Halstead smirk. "You love me and you know it."

"Not at this moment," She rolls her eyes. "You said yourself that the baby and I were fine before we even left the house, so why are we here?"

"No, actually I said it sounds like Braxton Hicks, but this is just to double check and make sure everything is okay with my nephew."

"If you couldn't look at me at the house and tell me, then you clearly wasted your money on medical school." She replies, earning an eye roll from Will. Jay, who sat in the chair next to her bed, lets out a chuckle but doesn't tear his eyes away from his phone. He enjoyed listening to the banter between his brother and his wife, it made things feel normal.

"Just shut up and sit back. We'll be out of here in no time."

"I'm pretty sure that is not how you talk to a patient, Dr. Halstead." Erin mutters, turning to glare at Will.

"You're right, it isn't… too bad I'm not on shift tonight." Will instantly whips back, his smirk returning.

Erin rolls her eyes and turns her attention to her husband. "Are you doing pretending you can't hear us now?"

Jay slowly tears his gaze away from his phone to look up at his wife. "Sorry, I was checking on the girl."

"And?" Erin asks, raising an eyebrow as she waits for his answer.

"She's currently tormenting Ruzek, so all is well." He says stuffing his phone in his pocket before leaning forward. He grabs her hand and runs his thumb over it softly. "How you feeling?"

"Well it fucking hurts, and they're taking their sweet time. So you tell me." She says her eyes locking with his, hers holding a slight annoyance. "This is all your fault; we are _not_ doing this again."

"All my fault?" He asks his eyes bugging out. "I'm pretty sure you were the one that followed me into the locker room and –"

With his own wide eyes, Will takes in the look in Erin's eyes before leaning forward. "Hey little brother, you might wanna shut up. She's capable of killing on a good day... I'd hate to see what she would do right now."

"You." Jay grumbles, turning to his brother and shooting him the dagger that Erin had been shooting him. "Go find someone and get us a damn answer already."

Will rolls his eyes before standing and heading out the door. He returns a few minutes later, Dr. Johnson following along right behind him. "Look who I found outside."

"Oh thank god," Erin lets out a groan. "Dr. Johnson will you please tell these two knuckleheads I'm okay and I can go home?"

Dr. Johnson shakes her head as she makes her way toward Erin's bed. "I wish I could say so, but Erin we need to talk." At her words, both Erin and Jay's eyes bug out and they both watch her, fear evident. "No, no no. Calm down, you and your little boy are fine, and you will continue to be just fine, as long as you listen to me okay?"

Still uneasy, Erin nods her head and reaches for Jay's hand. She grasps his in her own and gives him a tight squeeze. "I'll do whatever; just tell me what is going on."

"Ok Erin," Dr. Johnson says moving around the bed and sitting in the chair that Will had once occupied. "I hate to tell you this but you suffer from what we call Placenta Previa. Now this means that your placenta is lying on and covering the opening in your cervix which makes it harder to deliver your little boy naturally."

Taking in how quiet and in shock Erin was, Jay offers her a reassuring squeeze before turning to the Dr. "So what does this mean?"

Dr. Johnson looks back and forth between both Erin and Jay, offering them both a sad smile. "Exactly how it sounds. Our main concern is in the delivery. If Erin were to try and deliver naturally, then she could very well bleed out or hemorrhage. So I'm going to go ahead and order a C Section," At that, Erin's eyes widen once more. "I know Mrs. Halstead, it isn't what you wanted, you have made that very clear, but this is the only option to keep you and your baby safe."

Reluctantly, Erin nods her head. "I'll do whatever it takes to keep him safe."

Dr. Johnson offers her another small smile. "There's the Erin we all know and love. Normally, this issue fixes itself but to make sure that happens, in the next few months though, you're going to have to take it easy. This means no work, and full bed rest."

"What? No! I have a four year old, how am I going to be on bed rest?!"

"Er, we'll figure something out." Jay mutters, but Erin shakes her head.

"Erin you don't have any choice, if you put too much stress on yourself or the baby it can be disastrous." Will pipes in, walking toward the bed. "Dr. Johnson, I'm sorry –"

"No, please, go ahead." She waves him off, and Will nods before turning back to Erin.

"Are you willing to risk your son's life right now? Or your own for that matter?" He asks, raising an eyebrow at his sister in law. She glares up to him, but shakes her head none the less. "Ok then you have to do what it takes to make sure neither of you are under too much stress. We will all be there, Jaelyn will be just fine. You and this baby are top priority right now."

"Ok," She croaks out, her emotions all over the place. "I'll do it."

"And I mean full bed rest Erin," Dr. Johnson speaks up once more. "If I hear from anyone that you're not doing what you need to be, I will not hesitate to admit you and keep you here in the hospital until delivery. I know, this is scary and this seems like we're all ganging up on you, but we're just trying to do what is best for you and your baby."

* * *

"Jay!"

"What?" Jay snaps, turning around to face his brother, who was chasing after him.

"Jay calm down, she's fine!" Will argues, reaching out to pull his brother away from the lobby full of people who were watching them after hearing the two brothers snap at each other.

"Oh, is she really?" Jay asks, bitterly. His voice sounded as if he was on the verge of breaking down. "We're we in the same hospital room just now? She's going on bed rest and she can't even deliver him because if she does, she could bleed out? Will, that's not fine! That's scary!"

"I know," The tone of Will's voice softens a bit when he takes in his brother's shaken appearance. "But Dr. Johnson is a great doctor, and she knows what she's talking about. She deals with this kind of stuff all the time. As long as Erin takes it easy, then she and the baby both will be fine."

"We both know how stubborn she can be," Jay shakes his head. "What happens when she doesn't take this seriously? Or when she thinks she would be okay long enough to get up and do something for Jaelyn while I'm at work? We both know she will, and that scares me cause I can't lose her. Jaelyn and I both need her."

"You're not going to lose her," Will says watching as his brother collapses in a nearby chair in defeat. "I know she's stubborn, but so are we. We're going to fight her on this, and we're all going to be there and see this out. Ok? I'm gonna call Nadia, we'll set up a schedule helping you guys out with Jaelyn while you're at work, and if need be, then we can all take turns staying with Erin and helping her out. Ok? We're not losing this baby." At the conviction in his brother's voice, Jay glances up to where he stood in front of him. "Now, I know you're scared as hell, and that is perfectly fine in this type of situation, but so is Erin. And she needs you to be strong for her right now ok? So suck it up, and go in there and be there for her. I'll call Nadia."

Jay doesn't argue, but instead pushes himself out of his chair before starting off down the hall. He only gets a few feet before stopping and turning back to his brother. "Will"

Will glances up from his phone, mid dial to Nadia, and raises an eyebrow at Jay.

"Thanks, for everything."

"Anything for you little brother." Will replies, offering Jay a smirk.

Jay chuckles, and nods his head in response before turning and heading back down the hallway toward his wife and son.

* * *

 **Now I do not claim to know everything about Placenta Previa. My sister suffered from it, and was perfectly fine, and I did do some research on it back a couple weeks ago. But today as I wrote this chapter, I am sick so it didn't turn out how I wanted to. This wasn't even the original plan when I outlined this story, but the more I thought about it, I think this is a route I want to take. I plan to explore it more in future chapters, but no worries, it will not get as dramatic as the whole Lucas/Peyton thing on OTH lol**


	10. Chapter SIX

**I know, I suck. I'm going to quit promising a update date and just do them when I get a chance. I'm sorry guys. I know you're sick of hearing my excuses, I just write when I have time lol. But I hope you enjoy this! It was originally gonna be a Valentines day one but I didn't get it done in time, so it's been changed a bit. It ended quite differently than I originally planned, but I couldn't help myself.**

 **Hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

 **Thirty Two Weeks Pregnant**

Erin had been on bed rest for about two months, and she was on the verge of a mental breakdown. While she loved Jay and their friends for trying to make this whole thing easier on her, they were all driving her crazy. Will and Nadia had set up a schedule in which they both, along with Ruzek and Burgess, not only kept Jaelyn while Jay was working, but also sat with her. They would all eye her closely and get on to her if she tried to the do the tiniest of things.

Jay however, was the worst out of all. If she so much as moved, he was on her case. She knew Jay, and everyone else, meant well but she didn't know how much longer she could handle this.

"Erin Halstead! What are you doing out of bed?" Jay scolds as he sits the paint roller down in the bucket before turning to face her, his hand on his side, eyebrows rose. Nadia and Will, who were busy helping Jay paint the nursery, turn to look at her as well.

"I'm bored Jay," She groans, her hand coming to rest on her very swollen stomach. "I can't stare at the same four walls anymore."

"Er, you have to. You're almost there –"

"I'm very aware of that Jay, but I'm telling you if I don't get a change of scenery, I'm going to murder you in my sleep." Jay glances from his wife, to Nadia, before looking to his brother. By the looks on their faces, both obviously agreed with him but neither was brave enough to speak up to a very hormonal Erin.

Jay lets out a frustrated groan. "Ok fine, come on. We'll set you up in the living room." He reasons as he begins to walk toward her. He reaches for her arm but she yanks it from him.

"No, I don't want to sit in the living room alone. I want to sit in here with you guys and watch you work."

"No Er, it isn't safe. You don't need to be breathing the fumes from the paint." Nadia quickly pipes in, trying to reason with her best friend. This of course, only earns her a glare in return.

"Then open the damn windows!"

"Er –"Jay tries to soothe his wife, but was met by the same glare that Nadia had received. Erin turns to Will, desperately pleading for help.

"Will that would be ok right?"

Will glances back and forth between his brother and his sister in law, trying to figure out the best approach to this given that his brother was shooting him a dirty look. Finally, he sighs. "I mean with the windows open, and maybe a few fans it'll be ok for her to sit in here. But Erin, you have to sit and rest and keep your feet up. Make sure you're taking care of little man while you do."

"I can handle that!" Erin grins waddling her way over to the big plush chair she had talked Jay into for the nursery since they would spend a lot of time in here with their son. She sits down, quickly propping her feet up on the footrest and her hand comes to rest on her stomach. Will, Jay and Nadia all glance back and forth amongst themselves at the smug look on Erin's face before she interrupts them. "What are you waiting for? Get back to work!"

* * *

"Hey where's Jae?" Jay asks walking into the kitchen, freshly showered after his run that morning.

"Still asleep," Erin says glancing up to her husband from over the rim of her decaf coffee. She absolutely hated it, and Jay wasn't happy about her drinking it either, but they had quickly came to some sort of agreement over it due to Erin's instance of her morning cup.

"Seriously?" Jay asks rolling his eyes and looking to Adam who sat at the table with Erin as it was his day to "baby sit" as Erin called it. "The only thing you had to do was wake her up and send her to Erin to get dressed. How damn hard is that?"

Adam's eyes widen. "Dude, she's evil. She freaking bit me!" He says pointing to his arm, where sure enough there were tiny teeth marks.

Erin couldn't help but laugh as she brings her cup back up for another drink. "That she gets from her father."

Jay narrows his eyes at his wife before rolling them. "Yeah, whatever." Before either have time to make another comment, he turns and sprints up the stairs to his daughter's room. He makes his way inside and laughs as he sees her passed out in the middle of her bed. Her crazy curly hair had fallen from her bun that Erin had put in the night before. Her sleep shirt had ridden up exposing her little tummy and one arm was thrown over her eyes to block out the sun while the other tightly held on to the pink cheetah blanket she was forever attached to. Given her age, he and Erin had spent much time trying to wean her from it, with no luck. She needed it every night to go to sleep. His smile grows as he lies down next to her on the tiny toddler bead. "Wake up sleepyhead."

Jaelyn slowly opens an eye to look at her father but quickly snaps it shut and turns opposite of him. "No."

"Oh come on Jae, I have a surprise for you."

Slightly intrigued, Jaelyn turns back to face her father. "Surprise?"

Jay smirks before nodding his head. "Happy birthday baby girl." He says finally moving his arm from behind his back to show her the stuffed Minnie Mouse he had picked out for her. It was just his size and he knew the night before when he saw it in the store, she had to have it.

As soon as she sees it, her eyes widen in glee and she reaches for it. She takes it from her father and snuggles it, sending him a huge smile. "Thank you daddy."

"You're welcome baby," He says reaching over and pulling her into him so that her head rested on his chest. "How are you already five munchkin? You're making daddy sad."

"Don't be sad daddy," Jaelyn mumbles, glancing up to her father. With her arm still wrapped around her Minnie Mouse, she reaches up and places her hands on both sides of Jay's face. She moves her hands up, making her father 'smile', which in turn makes Jay laugh.

"I can't help it; you're getting too big for me. You need to stay my baby forever."

"I will daddy. Forever and ever."

Jay offers her a sad smile, knowing it won't be true, but forever wishing it could be. "That's my girl."

"There's my big girl!" Erin exclaims as Jaelyn enters the kitchen, her father right behind her. "Happy birthday my sweet sweet girl." She holds her arms out for her daughter, and before she has the chance to lift her, Jay steps up and places the young girl on her mother's lap. Erin gives him an appreciative look before snuggling her daughter, placing a kiss on the girl's temple. "You ready for your date with daddy?"

Jaelyn eagerly nods her head and Erin smiles. "Ok, let me fix your hair before you go because daddy didn't do such a hot job."

Once again, Jay narrows his eyes at his wife as he sits down in the chair next to Adam. "It's not my fault the kids hair is so out of control."

"Actually, it is." Erin says placing Jaelyn back on the ground to stand in front of her. "The curl is all you Jay."

"Whatever," Jay says rolling his eyes as Erin begins to bring a brush through the little girl's hair. She always remembered to grab the stuff she needed to fix her daughter's hair in the mornings before she came down stairs. Jay was perfectly capable of getting the little girl dressed, but he was ultimately helpless when it came to her hair.

"So shorty," Adam grabs her attention as he sits his coffee cup down on the kitchen table. "What torture are you putting your ole man through today?"

"Daddy is taking me to the mommy daughter tea party today since mommy is sick and has to stay at home."

Adam lets out a chuckle as he turns to look at Jay, who was raising an eyebrow at his friend. "Oh man, that sucks. I feel for you."

"Uncle Adam, why don't you come with us?" Jaelyn eagerly exclaims, jumping up and down.

"Jae, sit still." Erin mumbles, holding her comb in her teeth, and focusing on braiding her daughter's hair.

"Oh sounds fun shorty, but I gotta stay here with your mom." Adam quickly informs the little girl, earning a chuckle from both Erin and Jay.

"Oh no you don't," Nadia says walking in the back door that was in the kitchen. "I'm here to stay with her. Ruzek, you should go. I think you'd have a blast."

Adam shoots Nadia a look, earning a evil smirk in return from her as she sat down in the empty seat across from him.

"Pleasseeeee Uncle Adam." Jaelyn says turning to face him now that her hair was done. She juts out that bottom lip and waits.

"Come on Adam," Nadia says pointing to the little girl. "It's her birthday. You can't honestly tell her no can you?"

Adam glances back and forth from the challenging eyes of Nadia, the laughs and smirks coming from Erin and Jay, to the little girl standing in front of him giving him the hugest puppy dog eyes he had ever seen. He groans before nodding. "Ok ok. I'll go."

"Yay!" Jaelyn eagerly exclaims jumping up into her uncle's lap and hugging his neck tightly. "Thank you Uncle Adam!"

"Anything for my favorite birthday girl." He says hugging the little girl back.

* * *

"Never again Halsteads, never again!" A very annoyed Adam complains following his friend and niece out of the building. He wore a tiara, a pink furry boa, and honestly his face looked much like a clowns. Not only had he just sat through the last two hours of "tea time" where he got scolded every two minutes by Jaelyn,

" _No hold your pinky like this."_

" _Uncle Adam! Use your manners!"_

But then he had been drug throughout the mall where the tea party was and into the closest kids store, which just so happened to be Claire's. Jay gladly paid for all the things Jaelyn had picked out and then parked them at the fountain to wait while he grabbed her giant cookie she had spent the better part of the day begging him for.

When he returned, not ten minutes later, he found Jaelyn hard at work giving her uncle a 'makeover'. Jay had never had such a hard time holding in his laughter as he stared at his daughter, who was so unbelievably proud of her work, and his friend, who looked so completely ridiculous.

"Look at me!" Adam complains, following Jay to his SUV. "I look like a clown!"

"No comment here." Jay chuckles strapping his daughter in the backseat of the car. "Now shut up. She's happy with it. I have thing of wipes in here somewhere you can use to wipe that off with."

"NO!" Jaelyn exclaims from the backseat as Jay and Adam settle into the front. "Uncle Adam you can't take it off!"

"Oh come on Jae-"

"NO!" She argues back. "You don't like it?"

Adam glances to the backseat, ready to argue his point until he sees the little girls eyes watering slightly. He then turns back to Jay who simply raises his hand to inform him that he wasn't getting in the middle of it. "Of course I do shorty, I'm sorry. I won't take it off."

Jaelyn's smile grows before she turns to look out the window.

"Dude –"

"Shut up," Adam mumbles, cutting Jay off. "I know."

"Mommy, Aunt Nadia! We're home!" Jaelyn shouts, running down the hallway toward the living room, her Minnie Mouse still under her arm.

"Hey baby girl! Did you have fun today with daddy and your uncle Adam?" Erin asks, as the little girl crawls up on the couch to sit between her mother and her aunt.

"Yes! We went to the tea party, daddy bought me all kinds of stuff, I had a giant cookie and I got to give Uncle Adam a makeover!"

"Oh did you really?" Nadia asks eager to see Adam walk in the door.

"Uh huh! It was so much fun!"

"It sounds like it baby! I'm glad you had fun today." Erin says holding her daughter tight to her side as Jay and Adam walk in. Both Erin and Nadia glance up and neither can hold their laughter as they look at their friend. "Oh my god."

Smirking, Jay moves to sit next to his wife. He wraps an arm around her shoulders and leans down to kiss her temple before speaking. "Doesn't he make a beautiful girl?"

Unable to speak from laughing so hard, both Erin and Nadia just nod in agreement. Jaelyn beams proudly from where she sat.

Adam, however, rolls his eyes and groans. "I hate all of you!"

"Uncle Adam!"

"Except you, shorty. I love you, but the rest of you. I hate you all."


	11. Chapter Seven

**Hey lovelies!**

 **Once again, I'm sorry for the long wait. Things have been pretty hectic around here and a lot has happened. I haven't had much time to write this year and it's been kind of a bummer for me. But today, I had some spare time and I sat down to look at the first part of this that I wrote back in.. June. Wow.. I didn't realize it had been SO long since I had written. I don't know what happened, but all of a sudden after re- reading this morning, I just couldn't stop writing this chapter.**

 **I hope it lives up to what you guys think of this story. But after writing it, I can say there won't be much more to this story. Maybe 5 chapters or so, but I've pretty much got an idea where it's heading and I'm excited for you all to read it.**

 **Thanks again to all those who have faithfully sat by and waited on this, and I Wished For This, I really do appreciate it and all the kind words.**

 **I love you all.**

* * *

 **Thirty Eight Weeks Pregnant**

"Er, you need to sit down." Jay scolds his wife, from where he sat at the kitchen table. He takes a long gulp of his coffee before sitting the mug down and watching her scurry back and forth.

"I can't. I have to make sure she has everything ready to go. Today is huge."

"I know that babe, but you stayed up the better part of the night making sure she was ready to go, that she had everything she needed, making her lunch. You two spent an hour last night picking out and laying out her outfit. She's ready to go, and you need to relax. You're not even supposed to be up right now. Will said you were only allowed up long enough to see her off and that was it."

Erin rolls her eyes and sits Jaelyn's bag on the couch before making her way into the kitchen with her husband. "I can't wait to have this kid so you all quit treating me like I'm a kid myself."

"Well quit being stubborn," He chuckles, pushing himself to stand and fix her mug of decaf.

Erin grimaces as he sits her mug in front of her, before looking up at her husband. "And I really can't wait to have this kid so I can have the real stuff again."

"Two more weeks, Erin." He says leaning down to place a kiss to the top of her head. "It'll be here before you know it."

"I sure hope so." She mutters and he gives her shoulder a gentle squeeze before heading into the living room, toward the staircase.

He begrudgingly climbs the stairs and makes his way down the hall, to his daughter's bedroom. He was just as anxious about this morning as Erin was, although he was hiding his much better. He didn't want his little girl to grow up anymore than she did.

Jay smiles when he walks in to find her already getting dressed for her big day. Neither he nor Erin had been in to wake her yet, so he knew she was wound up. "Hey munchkin, you excited?"

Jaelyn eagerly whips around, her little face turned up in the biggest grin he had ever seen on her. He couldn't help but smile in return. "YES! Daddy today I start kinergarten!"

"Kindergarten," He playfully corrects her, laughing at the cuteness of her mispronouncing the word.

"Whatever daddy," She says rolling her eyes and turning back to grab her shoes. Jay laughs at her attitude. This little girl was Erin made over. "Help?" She asks holding up the buckle shoes she and Erin had laid out the night before.

"Yeah, come here." He says making his way to sit on her tiny bed. Jaelyn crawls up in his lap and he helps her to quickly slip on the shoes and fasten them. When he was done, he wraps his arms around her tiny frame and squeezes her.

Jaelyn struggles to push him off, laughing slightly. "Daddy! You're squishing me!"

Jay chuckles, loosening his grip on his daughter. "Sorry munchkin, I just don't understand how you've gotten so big and how you're starting Kindergarten. I thought we talked about it and you told me you'd stay little forever?"

"I will daddy," She says turning around in his arms and placing her tiny hands on either side of his face. She leans in and kisses his cheek, and Jay's smile grows at his daughter's innocence.

"I love you, kid."

"I love you too daddy."

"Ok," he says patting her knee, letting her know to hop up. "Head down stairs and let momma fix your hair. I'll come fix your breakfast –"Before Jay could even finish his sentence, Jaelyn was out the door. Shaking his head, laughing at his daughter, he stands up and follows after her.

* * *

"Ok here we are." Erin says stopping just outside the door and turning to face her daughter, who was resting in her father's arms holding on for dear life. Jay wasn't happy about Erin coming to drop Jaelyn off with him, but she ultimately won him over when she argued that their baby only gets one first day of kindergarten. "You ready to go baby girl?"

Jaelyn was now a completely different little girl than she had been just an hour earlier. When it had been time to go, she had attached herself to Jay's side, nervous. She refused to even get out of the car when they arrived at the school and after a mini screaming fit, Jay had decided to just scoop her up and carry her inside. Her little arms were wrapped around his neck tightly.

"No. I want to go back home with you and daddy." She pleads before resting her head on Jay's shoulder.

Erin glances up at Jay, helpless. At any given time she was the stricter parent who put her foot down while Jay was the pushover, but with her hormones, she was having a harder time with it. She just wanted to scoop up her daughter in her own arms and take her back home where she could remain her baby forever.

Jay sighs before shuffling his daughter around in his arms. He could now look her in the eyes, and his heart breaks slightly at the look Jaelyn was giving him, but he knew he had to be the one to put down his foot right now. "Hey baby, what's wrong? You were so excited to come to school today."

"Well I'm not anymore." Jaelyn says so matter of factly, that he has to hold back his chuckle. "I want to go home with you and mommy."

"Oh Jae, you don't want to do that. You're going to have SO much fun at school." He says offering her a smile.

"I don't know anybody."

"But you're going to meet new people today. And I bet you by the time I come back to pick you up, you'll have already made a new best friend."

"Daddy –"

"Come on," Jay says walking into the classroom. He walks past the other kids and parents and the teacher, who Erin stops to talk to, and over to the tiny table where he sees JAELYN HALSTEAD written on a name plate. Much to Jaelyn's fighting him; he manages to sit her in her seat before kneeling down next to her. "Oh Jae, look at all this! You're going to have so much fun today." He says nodding to the coloring pages sitting in front of her. "And before you know it, I will be right back to get you and then you can tell me all about the fun you had and the friends you made, okay?"

"Promise?" She asks, looking up at him. He could still see the terror in her eyes but for the moment she was calm. He smiles knowing she gets that exact strength from her mother, and he knew from that alone she was going to be fine.

"Promise. And I tell you what, if you can stay here all day and be the big girl I know you are, we'll get some ice cream on the way home."

Jaelyn's little eyes gleamed as she turned to her father, jaw slack. "BEFORE dinner?"

Jay glances over his shoulder to find his wife approaching them. He quickly turns back to his daughter and nods. "I won't tell the warden if you don't. Deal?"

"Deal!" She exclaims, hugging his neck tightly.

"I'll see you a in a few hours, alright baby?" He asks running his hands up and down her tiny back as she hugs him tightly. She just nods and when she goes to pull back he places a tiny kiss on her forehead. "Love you Jae."

"Love you too daddy," She mutters before turning to hug Erin. Jay stands up and makes his way to the door. He stands back and allows Erin to say goodbye as well.

After a few hugs and kisses, Erin turns to make her way to Jay. Neither say a word, but as they make their way from Jaelyn's classroom to the front of the school building, Erin reaches over and grabs Jay's hand in her own. She squeezes it tightly, and knowing she was holding on by a thread, Jay pulls her into his embrace.

He leans over and places a kiss to his wife's temple as they walk down the sidewalk, toward his car. At his actions, Erin stops in the middle of the sidewalk and turns to bury her face in her husband's chest. Only there, far away from the prying eyes of their five year old, does Erin let her hormones get the best of her and she begins to cry. Not in a mourning sense, but more in her baby was growing up, and she didn't know how to stop it.

* * *

"So how did it go this morning?" Nadia asks walking into Erin and Jay's living room and sitting down on the couch next to her best friend.

"She only cried twice." Jay says walking through the living room, gathering his stuff to head to work for a few hours. Given the day, Voight had given him the morning off to take Jaelyn to school, and the afternoon to pick her up. So he was heading in to take advantage of the few hours he had to finish up on his neglected paperwork from the last week or so.

"Awh, what about you Er?" Nadia asks, turning to face her best friend.

"I was talking about Erin," Jay chuckles, dodging a pillow that Erin had thrown across the room at him. "Jaelyn actually did pretty good. She was nervous, but she never actually cried."

"Of course not," Nadia smiles. "That little girl is such a bad ass."

"She gets it honestly," Jay smirks causing both Nadia and Erin to roll their eyes at him. "Come on guys, you know it's true. I'm amazing."

"And not the least bit big headed." Nadia mutters, earning a dagger from Nadia.

"Oh yeah, so badass babe. How many times did you cry today?" Erin asks, this time being the one to smirk. Jay's face goes somber.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He clears his throat. "Oh look at the time; I have to go do this paperwork before Voight kills me. Bye Satan's spawn." And with that, he walks out the front door.

Erin rolls her eyes at his dramatics. He likes to blame all of Jaelyn's dramatics on her, but it was clear she had gotten some of that from her father as well.

"Ok I give, how many times did he cry?" Nadia asks, suddenly curious, and secretly plotting ways to mock him of it later on.

"Three."

"So it's true, THE Jonathan Halstead, is indeed actually a giant softy." Nadia smirks, causing Erin to laugh and nod her head. She had been trying to convince her best friend of it for years, but Jay had caught on and never truly showed that side of him to anyone but his wife and daughter.

After a good laugh, Erin begins to reach for the remote. "So what do we want to do today? I was thinking we could restart Grey's –"

"Erin, I'm pregnant." Nadia says, suddenly not able to hold her news in any more.

"What?" Erin drops the remote, and snaps in the direction of her best friend. Her jaw was slack, and she was without words. For the first time ever.

"Well, I mean I don't know that I am… I think I am. I slept with this guy and I - I was supposed to start two weeks ago and I – "She trails off and leans forward, resting her head in her hands.

"Nadia," Erin says grabbing her best friend's hand. "Calm down, tell me what's going on?"

Nadia lets out a deep shaky breath. "I mean Er, I am not proud of this, at all." Erin just squeezes her hand reassuringly. "But I went out with this one guy, total drag and I haven't seen the loser since – but we hooked up.. and now I'm two weeks late."

"So you haven't taken a test yet? Been to the doctor to confirm?" Nadia doesn't answer, but instead just shakes her head. "Ok, then we need to get a test."

"I already have one," Nadia mutters, her chin resting in her hand. She reaches over and pulls the CVS bag out of her purse. "I bought it on the way here, but I was too afraid to do it alone."

"Ok then come on," Erin says pushing herself off the couch and grabbing the bag.

"Uh, where are you going?" Nadia asks, watching as her best friend makes her way toward the steps. "Erin you aren't supposed to be up and moving around."

"Oh god Nads, I love you but you seriously have stop with that crap. I get enough from Jay. Now the baby will be fine, so let's go. You know I'm not a fan of suspense, so I'm gonna need you to get your ass up here and pee on this stick so I can help you figure out what is going on." By now, she was waiting on the bottom step, her hand resting on her hip as she waited for her best friend to follow her.

Reluctantly and scared out of her mind, Nadia pushes herself off the couch and follows after her best friend.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Erin and Nadia sat in the bathroom just inside of Erin and Jay's bedroom. Nadia sat on the edge of the tub while Erin stood by the door.

Once they had gotten upstairs it took Erin and additional five minutes to talk Nadia into taking the test. Now, the two sat in silence as they waited for the three minutes to be up.

Just then, the timer went off and Nadia looks up at her best friend. Erin felt bad as she looked back at Nadia, the one person she had only been able to rely on for so long, and she had never seen her this scared or helpless. She felt bad for her.

"I – I can't look." Nadia says, shaking her head. "You do it."

Erin nods, and pushes herself off the door before picking up the test. She glances over to her best friend once more. "Nads, I know it's scary… and it will always be in a sense. I mean being a mom is living life everyday with a piece of your heart walking around outside your body. But it's also the most rewarding thing you will ever do. I promise you that. And I promise you that no matter what this test says, everything is going to be okay."

With shaky legs, Nadia stands up and makes her way to stand next to Erin. She wraps her arm around her best friend, resting her head on her shoulder. "Thank you Erin, I honestly don't know what I would do without you." She smiles slightly when Erin wraps her arms around Nadia in return and hugs her back.

"Alright, here we go." Erin says turning to look at the test. A huge smile spreads across her face. "Congrats Nads, you're going to be a mommy."

At that moment, a million different emotions flooded Nadia. Nervousness, anger, anxiety, love, excitement. Hope.

"Nadia?" Erin croaks, pulling her best friend out of her moment.

"Yeah?" Nadia asks, turning to face her best friend. Her arm was still wrapped around her, but she could easily see the shock written across her best friend's face. "Er, what's wrong?"

"My water just broke."

* * *

"Hey baby girl!" Jay exclaims walking up to Jaelyn's kindergarten class. He smiles as the little girl throws herself into his arms, hugging him tightly.

"Hi daddy!"

"How was your day?" Jay asks, bending over to pick up her book bag before heading toward the entrance of the school. She rest on his hip, smiling from ear to ear. "Did you have fun?"

"SO much fun daddy!" She exclaims, practically jumping up and down in his arms. "I got to draw, and play blocks, and go outside! Did you know we get to go outside? I got to play on the swings and the monkey bars and then we came inside and I got ice cream daddy! ICE CREAM! And I made me a new bestest friend!"

Jay feigns shock as he makes his way to his car and opens the back seat door. "A best friend? Oh goodness, what's her name?" He asks, buckling his daughter into her seat.

All the excitement in Jaelyn's face fades away as she looks at her father. "I don't remember."

Jay couldn't help but laugh at his daughter. She only grew annoyed with him as he laughed at her, which made him laugh harder.

"It's not funny daddy!"

Jay stops laughing, but smirks as he throws her book bag to rest in the seat next to her. "Of course not munchkin, you can find out her name tomorrow." He says placing a soft kiss on her forehead before moving to shut the door. "I'm glad you had fun today." He shuts the back door and makes his way around the front of the car, sitting in the driver's seat.

"So I get to go back tomorrow, daddy?"

"You sure do munchkin!" He says smiling up at his daughter in the rear view mirror. He chuckles quietly to himself when she exclaims her excitement to go back the following day, thanking God just as silently that she had gotten out of her funk from that morning and now loved going to school. Something he never did.

He had just started the 300 and was about to pull out of the parking lot when his phone rang. He glances back at his daughter in the rear view mirror once again, and smiles as she talks a million miles an hour, showing her excitement before bringing the phone up to his ear. "Hey Nads, what's up?" He asks pulling out of the parking lot and heading in the direction of the 21st, where he was hoping to get a bit more paper work done while Jaelyn annoyed her uncle Adam.

"Uh Jay, I'm with Erin at med. You need to get here now."

"What?" Jay asks, his heart racing a hundred miles a minute. "Is she ok? Is the baby ok?"

"Yeah they're both doing fine for now. Jay, Erin's in labor."

Jay didn't need any more explanation than that. His wife was in labor, and his little boy was about to make his remember-able entrance into this ever changing world. "I'll be right there." He says, hanging up the phone and stepping down on the gas.


	12. Chapter EIGHT

**Guys, I seriously don't know what has gotten into me! During one of the busiest weeks in retail (knowing full well I'm going to work my ass off this week at work) I have been hit with so much inspiration! Not that I'm complaining. I wrote this short bit this morning before work, and I hope to have some more done for you guys in the next week or so.**

 **I tried to post it this morning, but it did something funky. I PRAY it's fixed now so you all can read! Please let me know if it's still messed up.**

 **So, enjoy and leave a review please!**

* * *

"Wait, wait, wait!" Jay says running into the room the nurse had directed him that his wife was in. He stopped briefly in the ER to drop Jaelyn off with his brother Will, who was going to keep an eye on her since he was just getting off his shift, and then ran up six flights of stairs because he didn't want to chance missing anything with an elevator ride. "Where are you taking her? What's going on?"

"Jay," Natalie, Jay's new sister in law of all of the last month, stops him just inside the door as the nurses' wheel his wife out the door. "I've talked to Dr. Johnson since taking over Erin's case. And I have to agree with her that Erin can't naturally deliver this baby, it is too dangerous. So, I've stopped her labor, and we're taking her into the OR for a C Section. We just need a bit to get her prepped, and then I will send a nurse back out after you with some scrubs and you can meet us there. Ok?"

"And she's okay?" He asks, stepping back into the room slightly, but his eyes never leaving Natalie. "And the baby is okay?"

Natalie nods, smiling at Jay. "So far, they're both doing amazing."

Feeling an urge of relief wash over him, Jay smiles and thanks his sister in law. Natalie squeezes his shoulder before turning to leave the room. Jay walks across the room, and plops down on the couch next to his wife's best friend.

"They're going to be fine, right?" He asks, turning to face Nadia, who offers him a smile before wrapping her arm around him.

"Yeah bub, they are going to be just fine. Erin is the strongest person I know, and we both know this baby will be as stubborn as all get out. He comes from you and Erin, he has no choice."

Jay can't help but chuckle as he hugs Nadia back.

"Where's Jaelyn?"

"Oh she's out in the lobby with Will. Giving him hell, I'm sure."

Just then, a nurse appears in the doorway of the hospital room, holding a set of scrubs. "Mr. Halstead, they're ready for you. If you don't mind to slip these on, I'll take you to your wife."

Jay nods, standing up and taking the scrubs from the nurse. Nadia stands as well. "I'm going to head out into the lobby and help Will with Jaelyn. Make sure she doesn't kill him." Jay laughs, thanking her. She simply smirks to him in return before heading out and toward the lobby.

"Right this way, Mr. Halstead."

* * *

"What's taking so long?" A very annoyed Adam groans, twisting in his chair. "I thought C Sections were supposed to be faster."

"Not necessarily," Will informs, glancing over to his brother's best friend, before glancing down to his sleeping niece who was resting in his lap. "A million different things could go wrong, prolonging it."

"Oh wow," Nadia mutters, reaching over and smacking him. "You're not helping!" She scolds him, as Will takes in the wild eyes of the unit and their family sitting around him.

"I'm not saying anything happened!" He quickly covers his track. "I'm just stating the facts. But even if something had gone wrong, Natalie knows what she is doing. She's an amazing doctor."

"Dude, you have to say that." Adam argues. "She's your wife."

"Dude," Will mocks him, turning to glare at Adam. "I would say that even if she wasn't my wife. It's the truth."

"Guys, shut the hell up. Here she comes." Antonio says, motioning to Natalie who was currently walking toward them.

"How are they?" Voight asks, standing up. Nadia jumps up from beside him, clinging to his side and he wraps his arm around the young girl. He could feel the nerves radiating off her, and he suddenly becomes anxious as well. They had all expected Halstead to be the one to come out and share the news of their son's arrival. "Where's Jay?"

"He's with Erin." Natalie informs them. "There were a few complications, and he refuses to leave her side now. But as you all know, Erin suffered from Placenta Previa. Which means that her placenta was covering the opening of her cervix, and she would not have been able to deliver the baby naturally? If she had, she would have bled out." She glances around the small, but loving group that was hanging on to her every word. They all looked terrified, except for Will who was offering her a slight smile and a nod to tell her to go on further. He had a feeling where she was heading with this.

"So we did a C section, and the baby was delivered with no complications. He's healthy, and you can all see him shortly. But as we were delivering Erin's placenta, we discovered that she had a condition called placenta accreta. This is where the placenta is implanted too deeply and it doesn't easily separate from the cervix. In most cases, Erin's as well, it causes massive bleeding. It is life threatening and in order to stop the bleeding, we had to do a hysterectomy."

"What?" Nadia croaks out, her eyes filling with tears. "So she can't have any more children?"

Natalie shakes her head no, solemnly. "Sadly, I'm afraid not."

"But she's okay, right?" Voight asks, growing impatient. While he knew the news of not being able to have any more children would kill Erin, he was more worried about how she was doing at the moment.

"She is. Like I said, we had to do a hysterectomy, and she received two blood transfusions, but she is stable and in recovery. She's going to be fine. She and the baby both are healthy, and very very lucky."

"When can we see them?" Kim asks, from where she sat next to her fiancé.

"It'll be about an hour or so," Natalie offers them a smile. "Erin is coming out of her anesthesia. Jay is with the baby and we'd like to give her some time with him after she wakes up. But as soon as she is able to see him, I'll send a nurse out to get you guys."

"Thank you, Natalie." Hank says, stepping forward shaking the young woman's hand. "For everything."

"You are very welcome. Congratulations, grandpa." She offers a warm smile up at the older man, earning yet another smile from him. That was a word he never thought he would enjoy hearing, but there was nothing he loved more than being those precious babies grandpa.

"I'll send the nurse out shortly," And with that, Natalie turns to walk away.

Will watches her step away, and pushes himself to stand up. He very carefully reaches down and places his still sleeping niece in the arms of Antonio, who gratefully took her and began to run a hand through her thick curly hair, before running to catch up with his wife.

"Nat," She turns around to face her husband, and allows him to pull her around the corner, away from the prying eyes of Will's family and friends. It was only when he pulls her into his arms that she allows herself to break down and cry. "Are you okay?"

She shakes her head, before burying it in his chest, as she sobs. "Will, that was the scariest thing I have ever endured. And I've had my fair share of scares in this job… Will, I was so afraid I was going to lose her… and that they would all hate me."

"They could never hate you, not even for something happening to Erin. If something had happened, it would have been beyond your control, you would have done everything you could, and they would have understood that. Jay, especially." She continues to cry in his arms, and he pushes a piece of her hair away from her forehead before placing a soft kiss to it. "But baby, you don't have to worry. Because you didn't lose her, you saved her. And I knew if anyone could, it would be you. You're a rock star, Natalie Halstead."

Hearing him say her name, along with his last name, was the one thing to pull her out of her freak out and cause her to smile. This was still so new to both of them, but she was so in love with this man that it was unreal. He was an amazing man, an even more amazing doctor, and he loved her, and her son. He was all she could ever ask for, and she didn't know how she had gotten so lucky to be able to call him her husband.

"There's that smile I love so much." He says winking down at her, causing her smile to grow even more. "Now come on, let's go get you a much needed cup of coffee while we wait to be able to see Erin and the baby ok?"

Exhausted of the events of the last two hours, Natalie doesn't argue, instead she just nods and allows her husband to pull her toward the elevator.

* * *

Two hours later, Erin was fully awake and sitting up in her hospital bed. She was in the most extreme pain she had ever felt, she certainly didn't hurt this bad after Jaelyn's birth considering she had given birth to her naturally, but the pain she felt at this moment was so much more than worth it. She was on cloud nine as she finally held her baby boy. She couldn't stop smiling down at him as he lay in her arms fast asleep.

Her husband, her amazing husband, was sitting on the bed next to her, his arm wrapped around the two of them as he too stared down at their little miracle.

"Oh little Jonathan, you are so wore out." She whispers, running the back of her finger across his tiny cheek. "You've had such a long dramatic day."

"And it's only going to get more exhausting," Jay mutters, placing a kiss to Erin's temple as he hears a soft knock on the door. Seconds later, Natalie walks in.

"Visiting hours is just about over, but these guys wanted to see you before we kick them out." She explains, laughing slightly. "You guys okay with that?"

"Of course," Jay nods, and Natalie steps back, allowing the group to enter the decent sized hospital room. By the time they had all filed in, space was a little tight but the once again new parents didn't mind. This was their family.

Erin and Jay stay seated on the bed, and Nadia, who was carrying a half asleep Jaelyn on her hip, moves to stand next to Erin. Voight moves next to her, followed by Kim and Alvin. Adam and Kevin stand near the foot of the bed while Will and Antonio stand next to Jay.

They all take in the new sleeping baby, and express their congratulations and coo over him.

"You see your baby brother, munchkin?" Jay asks, ignoring everyone else and glancing over his wife's head to his daughter. "He's pretty awesome, huh?"

By now, Jaelyn had lifted her head from Nadia's shoulder. Her once half hooded eyes were wide in anticipation as she studied her baby brother. She glances from him, to her parents who were both watching her intently. She just nods.

"You want to hold him?" Erin asks her daughter. She and Jay had already discussed it, and they wanted her to be the first person to hold the baby after the two of them, before grandpa or any of the aunts and uncles.

Jaelyn's eyes light up and she nods excitedly, causing everyone in the room to laugh.

"Ok, come over here." Jay instructs, pointing to the recliner next to the bed, where had spent much of the afternoon hanging out with his son, while waiting for Erin to wake up. Nadia sits Jaelyn down on the ground, and she runs across the room where her father had instructed her. While Jay eases the still sleeping little boy out of Erin's arms, Antonio lifts Jaelyn up and into the chair. He lays an extra pillow that was on the couch underneath her arm, before Jay slowly sits the baby in her arm.

He moves off to the side so everyone could see, but his hands never leave his son. His hands were resting on him slightly. It was just enough to make Jaelyn believe she was doing all the work, but enough to give him and Erin relief knowing he had a hold of him as well. "What do you think, Jae?" He asks, studying his daughter closely.

Behind him, Erin and Nadia was both snapping away picture after picture of the special moment Jay was sharing with his now two children.

Just as Jaelyn opens her mouth to speak, little Jonathan lets out a whimper, and then a wail. Both Erin and Jay cringe, expecting for Jaelyn to freak out. But instead, she reaches down and grabs the pacifier that had fallen out. She places it back in his mouth, calming him instantly. "Shh baby, it's okay." She mutters, earning a room full of aww's, and effectively melting her parent's hearts.

"You're such a good big sister, Jae." Erin praises her daughter.

"MY baby!" Jaelyn exclaims, leaning over and planting a kiss to her new brother's head. This of course, earns a couple laughs from across the room.

"Whatever you say, munchkin." Jay says shooting his wife a wink across the room. Erin just smiles in return, already so much more in love with her tiny family than she already was.

* * *

 **I never claim to know much about placenta accreta, I only found out about it a couple days ago while doing some research. I read as much about it as I could, and tried to make some sense of it, so hopefully this is close to spot on at least.**

 **Anyways, please review :)**


	13. Chapter NINE

**Ok, so here's the next chapter guys! Sorry it's taken me a week or so, I've been busy with work. Having said that, this chapter features Christmas… which I know is weird now that it's January, but I had originally planned for this to be out around the actual holiday. Life didn't happen that way lol sooo since I already had part of it written, I decided against going back and changing it, so here we go. Hope you all enjoy.**

 **And Merry (late) Christmas and Happy New Years. Hope you all had a wonderful Holiday season.**

* * *

Jaelyn comes running into the living room, where her parents were hard at work putting up the Christmas tree, in preparation for her to decorate it later that evening. The five year old was clearly agitated as she had her hands cupped over her ears. "Daddy!"

"Jaelyn!" Jay exclaims, matching her tone, annoying her further. Jay sits down the top part of the tree and turning to face her. "What's up munchkin?"

"The Babyyy" She groans, rolling her eyes. Erin and Jay exchange a look and they both have to bite their tongues at her dramatics. "He won't quit crying. Make him stoooppp."

Jay couldn't contain his laughter as he made his way to the staircase. "Sure thing kiddo." He says ruffling her hair in passing, earning yet another dirty look from her.

"Come here Jaelyn," Erin says sitting the string of garland that she was wrapping around the fireplace, and moves to sit on the couch. Jaelyn follows her and she pulls her into her lap. "What's wrong baby girl?"

"Momma, why does he have to cry? Like ALL the time?"

Erin laughs slightly, running her hand over her daughter's hair. "He cries because he's a baby, Jaelyn. He can't talk. So when he's hungry, or needs his diaper changed or he doesn't feel good then he has to cry to let me and your daddy know."

"Well it's annoying." Jaelyn mutters, rolling her eyes.

Erin just offers her daughter a small smile, and pulls her back to rest against her chest. She runs her hand up and down her arm, soothing her. She felt bad. She truly did. Jaelyn was so excited during her pregnancy and after Jonathan had been born. But that quickly changed after having him home about a week.

She loved her brother, but she was having trouble adjusting to the fact that she was no longer the center of attention to her parents, her grandpa and her aunts and uncles. The crying all night, wasn't helping much either.

"You know little Jae," Jay says, walking into the living room. Jonathan was now calm and resting quietly in his arms as he made his way over toward his wife and daughter. "You used to cry all the time too."

Jaelyn, in her true form, just rolls her eyes causing both of her parents to laugh once more.

"He's three months old, Jaelyn." Erin says bringing her daughter's chin up so that she was looking at her. "He won't cry forever."

"Yeah before you know it, he will be following you around everywhere and getting into all your stuff and driving you even more insane." Jay rambles on, smiling down at his son who lay quietly in his arms, taking in his surroundings.

"JONATHAN HALSTEAD!" Erin scolds, shooting her husband a glare. He smirks in return. "You are _not_ helping."

"Sorry." He says motioning for his daughter to join him. She stands up out of her mother's lap and crawls the short space to rest next to her father. She leans into his side when he wraps his arm around her tiny frame. "You've got to admit though, munchkin, he's pretty cute." Jay says looking from his daughter to his son, before back to Jaelyn. "Right?"

Jaelyn glances over her father and to her little brother. The little guy was looking around the room before his attention turned back to his father, and then Jaelyn. When his eyes lay on his sister, his eyes light up and he offers her a toothless grin. The interaction melts both Erin and Jay.

"Yeah, I guess he is."

* * *

"Lucyyy, I'm homeee." Nadia exclaims, walking into Erin and Jay's house. She shuts the front door behind her, before kicking off her boots in the miniature hallway near the front door. She also strips of her jacket, and hangs it on the rack along with her purse before heading toward the living room. "Whoa, it looks like Santa threw up in here."

Jay chuckles, from where he sat on the couch feeding Jonathan his afternoon bottle. "Well when you have a very spirited five year old, you have no choice but to go all out. She insisted."

"And whatever Jaelyn wants," She starts, sitting next to him on the couch.

"Jaelyn gets," Erin finishes, walking into the living room from the kitchen.

"Where is she, anyway?" Nadia asks, glancing around. Jaelyn was usually the first to greet her when she visited.

"She was upstairs playing, and then she got quiet. So I went upstairs and found her passed out in the middle of her bedroom floor. In the middle of a pile of dolls, at that." Erin informs her friend and Jay chuckles.

"Poor baby, you guys are killing her." Nadia defends her niece. "She's not getting any sleep!"

"Join the club." Jay groans, reaching forward to sit Jonathan's bottle on the coffee table in front of him. He then re-adjust his son, so that he was resting on his shoulder, and begins to burp him. "We haven't slept in three months."

"I haven't slept in like five." Erin says, shooting her husband a glare. "I couldn't sleep for anything those last couple months of pregnancy."

"Yeah well, if Halstead had kept it in his pants, then you would all be getting some sleep." This time, Jay shoots Nadia the dirty look and she smirks. "But seriously, you guys knew to expect the not sleeping through the night... she didn't." Neither Jay nor Erin had an argument for that. "I'll tell you what, what if Jaelyn comes and stays with me tonight? She and I can have an aunt/niece sleepover, and you guys will only have one cranky child to take care of. Maybe you can get a little rest that way."

"Really?" Erin asks, studying her friend. "You're up for a night with Jaelyn? You know she's a handful."

Nadia just rolls her eyes. "Oh come on, she's stayed with me many a nights. And she came back in one piece each time. I miss her, she's overwhelmed and you two are exhausted. It's not much longer I'll be able to do this," She says running her hand across her barely there baby bump, earning a smile from Erin. "Just say yes."

Erin doesn't say anything; she just turns and looks at her husband. Communicating without words, he just shrugs his shoulders and turns his attention back to his son in his arms. Erin takes that as his approval as he makes different faces at Jonathan, who could only smile in return. He hadn't quite managed to laugh just yet, but was well on his way.

"Ok fine, just not too much sugar."

"Ahh damn." Nadia mutters, shaking her head. "There goes my dinner of red bull and drinking syrup straight out of the bottle."

Erin, not amused with her answer, glares at her. Jay chuckles, until Erin reaches over and smacks his shoulder.

"Lighten up, Er." Nadia instructs her best friend, as she pushes herself off the couch. "You're going to give yourself wrinkles." And with that, she turns and heads for the stairs.

"As soon as you're doing corrupting my daughter, I want to hear about your doctor's appointment." Erin yells after her best friend. Nadia just waves in return and heads up the stairs after her niece.

* * *

"Is she excited?" Erin asks, glancing up to her best friend as she enters the kitchen. Erin stood at the counter, fixing Jonathan's bottles for later on. Jay had taken him up stairs to change him and lay him down for his afternoon nap.

"Oh yeah," Nadia laughs, sitting down at the bar stool. "She's packing as we speak." Erin laughs as she moves to sit the bottles into the refrigerator. She quickly stores away the extra supplies before joining her friend.

"So how did the DR appointment go?"

"It went good," Nadia's hand automatically flies to her stomach, rubbing it gently, causing Erin to smile once more. She loved seeing her best friend this way. It was so unlike her, but it was a welcoming change. "Growing good, measuring four months."

"Four months?" Erin asks, stunned. "God I wish I had been that small at four months." This causes the best friends to laugh once more. "Did you find out the sex?" Suddenly she had a hint of excitement in her eye.

Nadia couldn't help her sheepish grin. There was no way she could hide it from her best friend. "Yes.. It's a girl."

"OH MY GOD!" Erin squeals, jumping up and wrapping her arms around her best friend, hugging her tightly. "Nadia!"

"What is going on in here?" Jay asks, walking into the kitchen. He had just gotten Jonathan to sleep, and checked in on Jaelyn to find her packing her bag, so he had come downstairs. He heard his wife and redirected himself to the kitchen.

"Nadia is having a girl!" Erin says, turning to her husband. Her smile was a mile wide.

"That's amazing." Jay says, squeezing his friend's shoulder in passing. "Congrats, Nads."

"Thanks," She offers them both a warm smile. But as her mind starts running, her smile falters.

"What's that?" Jay asks, studying her closely. "Where did you just go?"

"Guys," Nadia shakes her head, trying to gather her thoughts. "Don't get me wrong, I'm so excited. And my heart swelled like 500 times its normal size when I finally saw her, and heard her heartbeat… but things also got real. It hit me that I'm alone in this –"

"You're not alone in this!" Erin quickly corrects her friend, causing Nadia to let out a sigh.

"I know that, Erin. I'm not saying that – I just mean, I don't have what you have. You and Jay are partners, and you're amazing at it, but I don't have that. At the end of the day, when I go home, it's going to just be me and this little girl. And that is scary as hell. So it has me thinking. If something goes wrong, if something was to happen to –"

"NO Nadia." Erin once more cuts her friend off. "We are not going here." By now, she had jumped out of her seat. "You're going to be fine, this baby is going to be fine. Nothing is going to happen, and we're going to be there to see that through. So let's not do this."

"Er –"Nadia says glancing back and forth between her best friend and Jay. "I'm not saying anything WILL happen, but just in case –"

"No, there are no buts here Nadia. I'm not listening to this. You're healthy, so there's no need to have this conversation." A slightly annoyed Erin mutters to her friend, before turning and walking out of the room.

"Jay –"Nadia whispers, helpless, as she turns to face him. "I –"

"Hey, I know –"He says standing up, his hand once again finding her shoulder. "But she's right. Everything is going to be okay, alright?" He squeezes her shoulder reassuringly before following after his wife to calm her.

Confused on what had just happened, and what on earth she was going to do, Nadia lets out a deep breath before turning to walk out of the kitchen herself. She stops when she sees Jaelyn standing in the doorway, her bags in the living room behind her. She forces herself to smile. "Hey kiddo! You ready to go?"

"Yeah!"

Nadia smiles, her mood instantly brightened by the little girl standing in front of her. "Alright, I'll get your bags; go tell your mom and dad bye. I'll meet you at the door, okay?" Jaelyn nods eagerly, before running toward the staircase.

* * *

"Oh my goodness kiddo!" Nadia exclaims, looking around her tiny apartment at the Christmas decorations she and Jaelyn had spent the last two hours putting up. She wasn't much on the holiday, but when Jaelyn insists on something, she always followed through. She loved this kid, and she loved seeing her happy. "This looks great!"

Jaelyn beams excitedly as she joins her aunt on the couch. "You have a baby in your tummy too, aunt Nadia?"

Nadia's smile grows, as she reaches over and pulls her niece closer to her. "I sure do. You wanna know a secret?"

"Yeah!"

"It's a little girl." At that, Jaelyn's eyes widen. "That we're gonna get to dress up and love on. It'll be just like having a real life baby doll, doesn't that sound fun?" Jaelyn nods once more, and Nadia giggles. "She's going to love you, Jae." She says pulling Jaelyn against her chest and brushing her hair back. She enjoys the brief moment that Jaelyn allows her to snuggle her. "But you have to make aunt Nadia a promise ok?"

"What?"

"Promise me, that you'll always love her. And help her when she needs it. She's going to need you to play with and have fun with. You'll be like her big sister."

Jaelyn smiles, tiredly as she snuggles against her aunt. "I will, aunt Nadia."

* * *

Three weeks later, on Christmas Eve, Erin and Jay found them selves still wide awake and busy as three AM rolled around.

It was almost nine before they got home with the kids from Hank's Christmas party, and it was almost eleven before they got them both asleep. Jonathan had gone down pretty easy, but Jaelyn was so excited that it was almost Christmas.

It took three different versions of the Christmas story, four trips to the bathroom and two cups of water before she even lay down. Then which, she had to jump right back up and triple check that her mother had laid out Santa's cookies, and Rudolph's apple.

When she finally had given in and fell asleep, both Erin and Jay were relieved. They were exhausted, but still had to put out her and Jonathan's presents.

Two weeks earlier, when Erin saw the five foot tall doll house, she just had to have it. Little did she know, it came in pieces? So it took Jay almost three hours to build it, and another hour to put together her toy kitchen that she had saw in the store a couple months back, and threw a screaming fit for.

After finishing their work downstairs, the couple stopped to check in on their children. Jaelyn was fast asleep, but Jonathan was hungry. Erin fed him, and Jay changed him before rocking him back to sleep. By the time they got into bed, it was four in the morning.

Two hours later, Jay hears their bedroom door creep open.

Being closest to the door, he squints an eye open, immediately regretting it as the hallway light blinds him. He groans as he watches his daughter make her way over to him. He reaches behind him, his hand briefly coming in contact with his wife's hip. "Er."

Erin lets out a almost whimper. "No-"

"MOMMY DADDY! WAKE UP! SANTA HAS BEEN HERE!" Jaelyn exclaims, as she jumps on them, earning yet another groan from both of her parents as her tiny body lands on theirs. When neither Erin nor Jay make a move to get up, she reaches over and begins to shake her father. "Daddy!"

Just then, as if they were in cahoots, Erin and Jay hear Jonathan let out a wail across the hall.

"Ok, ok. We're getting up." Jay says pushing himself to sit up in their bed. "You and your brother can quit teaming up against us, now."

Not having a care in the world as to what her father was saying, Jaelyn jumps up and down impatiently as she watches her parents start to get up.

"Take this little energy monster downstairs," Erin says pointing to her daughter, before pushing the covers back. "And wait for me. I'll go change Jonathan and meet you there in a few."

"YAY!" Jaelyn exclaims, jumping off the bed herself and running to the hall, towards the staircase.

"Be careful!" Jay yells after his daughter, before turning to face his wife. He wraps his arm around her waist and pulls her in to him so he can peck her lips softly. "Remind me why we wanted kids again? We're never going to sleep again."

"Oh suck it up, baby. Only eighteen more years until they're both gone." And with a laugh, she leans up and offers her husband one last kiss before pushing him back and heading across the hall to consol her crying son.

Jay watches her walk away, and shakes his head before heading toward the staircase after his daughter. He missed getting his night full of interrupted sleep, he hated having to sneak around to fool around with his wife, and these kids drove him insane sometimes, but he loved this crazy life they had finally built.


	14. Chapter TEN

**Two chapters in two days. I'm on a roll. This chapter is kind of short, and much like the precious chapter, it's a bit of a filler but it sets it up for the next chapter.**

 **The next chapter is the final, and it is when things are going to get interesting. It's a bit Nadia centric… but it does include Linstead. And it wraps things up a bit for us all. After that, I have one final epilogue.**

 **After I finish posting the rest of this story, I will pick back up with I Wished for This! So much love to everyone who has been patient with me on that story. And much love to everyone who has taken the time out of their lives to read this story!**

 **You all have no idea how much you all, and your kind words, mean to me. Enjoy.**

* * *

"Hi baby boy!" Erin exclaims, walking into her son's room. She smiles as she sees her now 7, almost 8 month old son standing up in his crib. His tiny fists were holding on tight to the railing, and he was smiling, showing off his one tooth. When he sees his momma, he begins to jump with excitement. "Oh goodness, somebody is in a good mood today!" She praises him, lifting him out of the crib and heading toward the changing table to change his diaper.

Jonathan lays back, being the good baby he was, allowing her to change his diaper. His smile grows as he sees his father walk into the nursery and stand behind Erin. Jay makes a funny face over his wife's shoulder, earning a cackle from the little boy. Both Erin and Jay's smile grow at the glorious sound.

"And it looks like somebody is getting another tooth," Jay says, reaching over his wife and rubbing his finger along his son's gum. "You poor little guy, you can't catch a break, can you?"

"And neither can we," Erin sighs, before lifting her now clean son, up into her arms. She and Jay had stayed up most of the night a couple days earlier as their poor little man tried his hardest to deal with his first tooth popping through.

"Come here bud," Jay says, reaching for his son who was now antsy in his wife's arms, wanting his father. "What do you say I take you down and feed you while your mom goes and wakes your sister?"

"Oh gee thanks, babe." Erin says offering her husband an eye roll, which Jay laughs in return. Jay pushes past her, heading downstairs while Erin makes her way across the hall to wake her daughter.

After a full thirty minute battle of waking her daughter, and getting her into the tub, Erin comes down stairs and collapses in her seat. A now clean, wide awake, and very well put together Jaelyn skips after her, before taking her seat as well.

Jay had already fed Jonathan in the time it took Erin to wake Jaelyn, and now the 7 month old was sitting in his high chair, babbling on and watching his mom and sister closely. Jay was now standing at the stove fixing breakfast for the rest of them.

He glances over his shoulder and sees how worn down his wife already was, and laughs slightly. He grabs the cup of coffee he had already prepared for her, and sits it down in front of her. He kisses her head softly and she offers him a warm smile before he moves back to the stove, and she begins to nurse the cup of coffee.

"Are you glad today is your last day of school, munchkin?" Jay asks, flipping the pancake he was working on, before glancing over his shoulder at his daughter.

"No, I like school!" Jaelyn argues, causing both Erin and Jay to laugh. She had come such a long way since her first day of kindergarten.

"I know you do baby," Erin says reaching over and pushing a curl out of her daughter's face. She makes a mental note to better pin her hair before she takes her to school. "But you get a few months to play, and swim and you're even gonna have another baby to play with, in just a few weeks." She says, referring to Nadia, who was due any time. She was eight and a half months along, huge, and ready to be done with the whole thing.

"I guess." Jaelyn mutters, turning her attention to the pancake Jay had sat in front of her.

"Eat up, Jaelyn." Jay orders his daughter before returning to the stove to grab his and Erin's plate. "We only have a little bit before we got to get you off."

Twenty minutes later, the family was finishing up their breakfast. Jaelyn was in the middle of retelling her mother the story where she and her 'best friend' Macy had a contest to see who was fastest at running from the playground to the door to the school, and she had fallen and scraped up her knee.

Jay, was turned to his son in the high chair, trying his hardest to get him to talk. So far, the little boy could say momma and sissy but he had still not conquered the word Jay longed to hear. "Come on little man, just say daddy. Dad-dy."

"Oh Jay, will you give it up?" Erin laughs. "He will say it when he is ready."

"Says you!" Jay says shooting his wife a dirty look over his shoulder. "He's already said momma."

"Yeah and payback is a bitch. Jaelyn said daddy first."

Jaelyn shrieks. "Momma! You owe me a dollar!"

Erin rolls her eyes, as Jay chuckles, before turning back to face his son.

"Oh no you don't buddy." Erin informs her husband. "I don't have any cash, give me some."

"You can't be serious." Jay groans, and Erin's smile grows. "You were the one who cursed in front of her, not me."

"Yeah, but I didn't have time to go to the bank yesterday, so I don't have any cash. Hand it over." She says, holding her hand out. Jay rolls his eyes but pulls his wallet out of his back pocket. He fishes through it, pulling out a dollar bill and slapping it into his wife's open hand. She smirks and then turns, offering it to her daughter.

Jay rolls his eyes once again as he stuffs his wallet back into his pocket before turning back to Jonathan, who was now starting at him, waiting. "Come on bud, dad-dy."

"Na-na!" Jonathan exclaims, confusing Jay all together.

"What?" Jay asks, glancing over his shoulder, to where his son was looking and smiling. He rolls his eyes when he sees a very pregnant Nadia waddle her way into the kitchen to join them. "Are you freaking kidding me, kid? Come on!"

Nadia laughs. "Your kid loves me moreee." She teases him.

"Do you ever knock?" Jay asks, teasing her back. "Geez Nadia."

"I've missed you too, Jay." She mutters, before taking the seat next to Erin.

"You guys better get going," Erin says, earning her husband's attention yet again. "You're gonna be late dropping her off."

Jay's eyes drift to the wall, to the clock and he sighs. "She's right little Jae, go get your shoes on." Jaelyn nods, takes off into the living room. Jay stands as well, taking everybody's dirty dishes as he goes. He quickly loads them into the dishwasher before walking back over and lifting his son out of the high chair. He throws him slightly in the air and catches him with ease, earning a cackle from Jonathan and a groan of disapproval from Erin. "Your momma is no fun, Jonathan." He mutters, kissing the little boys cheek before plopping him down in Erin's lap.

"I'll get the girl, you take the boy?"

"Yep, I'll drop him off with the sitter and we'll meet you at work."

"Actually, I'm going in late today. I have a doctor's appointment." Nadia informs her, sneaking a drink of Erin's coffee.

"Alright, then I'll drop the boy off and I'll meet you at work." Jay nods before leaning down and kissing his wife sweetly. "Love you."

"Love you too, Er." He winks at her, before heading toward the front door, where Jaelyn was already anxiously waiting on him.

"Love you momma!" Jaelyn yells, as she runs out the door.

"Love you too baby." Erin yells back, chuckling slightly.

"Your kids are too cute, Er." Nadia laughs, leaning over to kiss her nephew's cheek.

"I know," Erin says, turning her attention back to her son who rested in her lap, smiling up at her. "And just think, in a few weeks you'll have a little cutie of your own."

"I know," Nadia says, her smile growing. She runs her hand over her now huge stomach, and feels her heart skip a beat as she feels her baby girl press back against her hand. "I can't wait."

* * *

"Has anyone seen Nadia?" Hank asks, walking out of his office and into the bull pit. "I need her to triangulate this guy's phone!" Nadia had gone through the academy a few years back, and Voight had pulled her into his unit right away. But when she found out she was pregnant, he had stuck her on tech duty, and writing warrants.

"She's still not back from the doctor?" Erin asks, glancing up from her computer and over to Nadia's desk. "Her appointment was over three hours ago." She reaches over and picks up the phone, dialing Nadia's number.

"I'll do it, Sarge." Kevin informs him, before turning back to his computer.

Hank nods in appreciation to Kevin, before looking back to Erin. "Let me know when you get a hold of her." Erin just nods.

After about five rings, Nadia finally picks up, and Erin lets out a sigh of relief. "Where are you?"

"I'm in the hospital –"

"What?" Erin demands, earning the attention of her husband across from her. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Erin, calm down. I'm okay." Erin calms instantly. "My blood pressure was a little high, so they admitted me just to keep an eye on me and the baby."

"Okay, I'm on my way." Nadia doesn't argue, knowing it was no use. Erin says her goodbyes and gathers her stuff, standing up.

"What's going on? Did you find her?" Hank asks, suddenly reappearing in the doorway of his office.

"Yeah, she's in the hospital. She's fine. Her blood pressure was just a little high so the DR admitted her."

"Go," He instructs. "Be with her and keep us informed." Erin nods, and stops briefly at Jay's desk.

"I'll get the kids, go be with Nadia." He tells her, before she even has a chance to say anything. She smiles in gratitude and leans over, kissing him quickly before heading toward the stairs.

"I told you two, I don't want to see any of that crap in my bull pin!" Hank yells after her, shooting Halstead a dirty look before turning and heading back into his office. He slams the door in disgust, causing Ruzek and Atwater to burst out in laughter.

"Will you two grow up?" Jay mutters, slightly annoyed, before turning back to his computer.

* * *

 **Three Days Later**

"You said that the doctor is going to be discharging you now right?" Jay asks as he glances around the hospital room, taking in and making sure he had gotten all of Nadia's belongings, before turning to glance at her. She sat on the side of the bed, slipping her jacket on over her sweats.

"Yeah, the nurse just went to grab my papers. All I have to do is sign them and I'm good to go."

"Ok good. I know the nurse will wheel you out so I'm gonna go downstairs, bring the car around and call Erin to tell her we're on our way. She's gonna meet us at your apartment; they're leaving the doctor office now. You gonna be okay for a few minutes?"

Nadia laughs. "Yes Jay, I'll be fine. Go ahead and I'll be down in a few minutes." He nods and heads out the door, leaving her alone. However she was only alone for less than a minute before she heard a knock on the door. She glances over her shoulder to find a doctor walking in, a stack of papers in hand.

He moves around her hospital bed so that he was standing in front of her. "Miss Decotis, we have a few things to discuss before I dismiss you."

"That doesn't sound too promising." She laughs slightly, only to be met by silence from Dr. Johnson. "What's going on?"

Dr. Johnson clears his throat before taking the seat next to her bed. "I know you've had a rough pregnancy, and you've been feeling a bit off lately." Nadia nods her head, still trying to figure out where he was taking this conversation. "This morning when we did the ultrasound to check on your little girl, we found something."

Nadia's heart stops as it all begins to make sense. The somber look on his face, the monotone voice, and the lack of his usual sense of humor. This was bad. "What did you find?"

Dr. Johnson once again clears his throat. "We found a tumor on your ovary. It was quite large, and after running it by a few colleagues, we all seem to agree that it is possible it has spread."

To say Nadia's world had come to a screeching hault would be an understatement. "So you're saying it is cancer?"

Dr. Johnson nods his head. "We don't know for certain until we run some tests, but unfortunately yes we do believe so."

"So what happens to my baby girl?"

The doctor reaches out and hands her a small stack of pamphlets as well as an appointment card. "These will answer all of your questions. Take your time, read through them, do some research if you would like. You have an appointment to meet me in my office tomorrow. Feel free to bring any questions you may have and we will discuss your options."

"Just answer my question." Nadia mumbles, her eyes glued to the stack of information in her hands.

"And what would that be?"

She slowly lifts her gaze from the papers in her hands to the doctor sitting in front of her. "Say I do undergo treatments to get rid of this tumor, will it hurt my baby?"

"You never know the full risks until you undergo treatments, but yes, it is very possible it could do harm to your baby. And I'm afraid it has already progressed so far, that I don't think you could wait until after she's here."

She shakes her head, firmly. "Then cancel the appointment, my mind is already made up. I do not want any treatments."

"Miss Decotis, I strongly encourage you –"

"No!" She exclaims, having already made up her mind. "I don't care what happens to me, I will not put my daughter in harm's way. I just can't do it and I'm sorry if you don't understand that, but that is my final decision and nobody can change my mind."

"Very well," Dr. Johnson sighs, defeated. He places the discharge papers on the table in front of her before handing her a pen. "Sign right here and you are free to go."

She takes the pen and scribbles her name across the bottom of the page before handing both to the doctor. She thanks him with a silent nod and stands up, making her way to the door of the room, where her nurse waited with a wheelchair.

"I will keep your appointment open just in case you change your mind," The doctor informs her as she walks away from him. She simply ignores him.

"You have everything?" The nurse asks, as Nadia slips the pamphlets into the trashcan. She nods her head and then moves to sit down in the wheelchair.

"Yeah, let's get out of here."


	15. Chapter 11

**Ok guys, here it is. The final chapter. I seriously hope you guys don't hate me for this, but if you do I understand. This was a hard one to write, even though I had it wrote since like the second chapter. But regardless, I hope you all have enjoyed this story.**

 **Thank you so much for everything.**

* * *

"You can just pull over and let me out here." Nadia says pointing to the sidewalk near the front entrance of the brick building.

"You sure?" Adam asks, following her directions. He wasn't her first choice in a ride, but considering she was very pregnant and couldn't drive, and she was doing her damnest to keep her secret from both Erin and Jay, he was the only option she had at the moment. "I can drive you closer and come in with you if you want."

"No that won't be necessary." She mumbles, reaching for the door handle as the car comes to a stop. "It will only take a few minutes, no need to come in. Just wrapping up some things from my aunt's estate."

Adam eyes her skeptically, but agrees none the less. "Alright, well I'll be right here when you're done."

"Thanks Adam," She mumbles before climbing out of the car and making her way in the building. Once inside, she heads straight for the reception desk. "Nadia Decotis, I had a twelve o'clock appointment with Mr. Spencer." She informs the receptionist, who nods her head as she stands.

"Yes Miss Decotis, follow me. Mr. Spencer is waiting on you." Nadia nods her head and follows the slightly older woman down the hallway to an office. She waits while she knocks on the door and when they hear a faint 'come in' Nadia steps inside.

"Ahh Miss Decotis," The older man says standing from his desk and walking around to shake her hand. "It is nice to finally meet you."

"You too," Nadia replies as she receptionist moves to exit, closing the door behind her. "Thank you for meeting with me right away."

Mr. Spencer smiles at the young mother, who appeared to be very pregnant now. He motions for her to sit and she follows suit. "No problem, it appears we have a very time sensitive case on our hands. Tell me, how can I help you?"

"I was hoping to set up some kind of paper work as to who will care for my daughter in the case that something happens to me. I was recently diagnosed with stage four ovarian cancer, and I refuse to get the treatment because I don't want to harm my baby girl. Her father is not around and my mother passed away when I was eighteen. My father was never around and my last living aunt died about four months ago. I don't want her to end up in the system."

Mr. Spencer nods his head, while struggling to stay professional. The look on his face gave it away that this case was hitting him hard. "Ok and do you have a thought as to who you would like to raise your daughter, in the case you were no longer able?"

She nods her head instantly. "Yes, my best friend and her husband."

Mr. Spencer nods his head, scribbling away on his notepad. "And their names are what?"

"Erin and Jay Halstead."

Mr. Spencer looks up from his notepad, a small smile forming. "And do you believe they are capable to take care of your daughter?"

"Absolutely." Nadia nods her head, her eyes never leaving his. He could see the determination in her eyes. "They have a five year old daughter, and a eight month old son. There is nobody I trust more with my daughter's life than the two of them."

"Very well." He says glancing back down to his notepad. "And would they be willing to come in and discuss this?"

At that, Nadia shakes her head. "No, neither know I'm sick and if you don't mind, I would like to keep it that way. I've had a very rough pregnancy from the start, and I've tried countless times to tell both Erin and Jay that in the case something happens to me, that I want them to take her in and care for her. Neither one of them wants to listen to me, but I know if the situation appeared, they would raise her without question. I know I can depend on them. But if by some chance they can't take care of her, I have a backup as well, but I know it won't come down to that because Erin and Jay are amazing."

Mr. Spencer nods his head. "That they are, I've had the pleasure of working with them a few times over the years on various cases. Whether this is professional or not, I would just like to tell you in my opinion you could not pick anyone better to raise your daughter."

"This is exactly why I'm here." Nadia says, her hand coming to rest on her stomach. She smiles when she feels her daughter kick. "Do you think you could help me out?"

A small smile creeps its way on to the older man's face as he nods. "I don't see why not."

* * *

Hearing a knock on his office door, Hank Voight glances up from the file he was working on. "Nadia, what are you doing here? I sent everyone home ages ago. Besides, both you and I know you should be at home resting. It's bad enough that you ignored my direct order to stay at home and rest instead of coming in to work today."

Nadia nods her head as she moves further in her boss' office. "Yes sir, I know. But I have something very important to discuss with you." She stands tall and confidant, though her hands were shaking as she held the paper in her hand.

"Have a seat," He says nodding to the empty chair across from his desk, his mind off the file he had been so deep in just moments ago. "What's going on kid?"

"You know that you mean the world to me," She starts, and Hank raises an eyebrow at the young girl he often considered his daughter, along with Erin. "My father ran out on my mother when I was very young. I don't even remember him. For years it was just me and my mom. Other than Erin, I didn't have a family. When Erin graduated the academy you gave her a job right away, and you took a chance on giving her recovering druggy best friend a job as well."

Voight stays silent, but leans back in his seat as he watches the young girl in front of him. He wasn't sure where this conversation was going. "You took us both under your wing and you have become such a father figure for both of us. Because of you, we can sit back and say we made it and we have amazing lives and I know I speak for Erin as well when I say we can never repay you."

"I've never asked you to." He informs her, his voice breaking slightly. The further into this conversation they got, the more nervous he got – and Hank Voight does not get nervous. "As long as you two continue to do what you are doing and take care of yourselves, I will always be there for you."

Nadia nods, as tears threaten to spill over the rims of her eyes. "I know, and that's what brings me here." She takes a deep breath. "I have a huge favor to ask you."

"Anything, just name it."

"Well you know I've had a very rough pregnancy," Hank nods. "There have been plenty of times I was afraid I was going to lose my baby girl, but by the grace of God, she's doing so good." She takes in a deep, shaky breath. "I on the other hand am not. They found a tumor on my ovary and turns out it is stage four ovarian cancer. At first I didn't want to hear anything the doctor said, but I eventually agreed to go in and meet with him. He went over my risks and chances with me, and after a lot of consideration, I am not going to undergo any treatments. They can be very dangerous for this little one," She says motioning to her stomach, Voight's eyes follow her gaze right away and he smiles sadly.

"There is no guarantee how this could go, I could be fine, but you know I always plan for the worst. There is a very good chance that by the time she gets here, it will be too late and treatments won't work for me. I could very well die, and it breaks my heart to think that I may never get to meet my little girl or see her grow into the amazing young woman I know she will be." By now, tears were streaming down Nadia's cheeks, and Voight was well on his way to doing the same. "I've thought long and hard about it, but we both know the person I had in mind in case that happened. I have tried to talk to both Erin and Jay from the very start of my pregnancy and ask them to take care of her if something happened to me, not knowing this would happen, but neither one of them will have any talk of it."

"What are you asking me Nadia?"

"I met with a lawyer, and had papers drawn up stating that Erin and Jay would be the legal guardians in the case that I do not make it. I know better than to give the papers to them directly. They'll yell and get pissed off and it just won't be a pretty scene. So I was wondering if you would be willing to hold on to these," She holds the papers that her lawyer had drawn up, so that he could see them. He leans forward and takes them, looking through them. "For me and in the case that something happens, you would give them to Erin and Jay and see that they take and care for my little girl. And if they can't or won't, I know you will make sure she is okay."

"Of course I will." Hank takes a few minutes to look over the papers and shakes his head in disbelief of this whole situation before he glances back up to Nadia. "I will take these papers and in the case it is required, I will make sure Erin and Jay gets them. I will see to it that they take that baby girl and give her the best life possible, but it's not going to happen. You will have this little girl, and we will get you treatment and you will be fine. You'll be healthy and you'll be here and be able to be that little girl's mom. Understand?"

Nadia laughs slightly at the conviction of his words. She knew he wanted to believe what he was saying, but she knew the truth of the situation and she knew he knew as well. However, much like herself, he was stubborn as hell and she knew he wouldn't give up so easily. "Understand."

"I love you kid," He says leaning forward and grabbing her shaking hand in his.

"I love you too," She says offering him a sincere smile. "Thank you."

* * *

"You know you guys didn't have to do this right?" Nadia asks slipping into one of the chairs at the table the waitress had directed them to. Her hand flies to her stomach and she flinches as she feels a sharp pain. Erin eyes her cautiously. "I would have been perfectly fine with hanging out at your guys' place and eating Jay's terrible cooking."

Jay shoots a dagger at his friend while Erin laughs slightly. "No need to get nasty," he replies, taking the seat across from Nadia, next to Erin. He shoots a dagger to his laughing wife as well, as she pats his thigh.

"We wanted to Nadia. Before you know it, your little girl will be here and who knows when just the three of us can go out again."

"Good point," Nadia mumbles flipping through the menu. "Who's watching Jaelyn and Jonathan anyways?"

"Kim and Adam," Jay chuckles. "Adam wants a baby and Kim is hoping to talk him out of it by watching them for the night." He pauses, turning to his wife. "Wait what is that supposed to mean? Are our kids really that bad?"

"I don't think they're that bad, just more exhausting and she's hoping to tire him out." Erin tells her husband, never taking her eyes off her best friend who was looking pretty uncomfortable. "You ok Nadia?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Nadia dismisses her, her hand flying to her stomach and rubbing tiny circles. "She's just kicking up a storm." Erin doesn't entirely buy it, but nods her head.

"It won't take no time for Adam to change his mind," Jay says looking down to his menu. He was completely oblivious of Erin's stare and Nadia's constant squirming. "Lord knows those kids wear me out."

"Just wait until Jonathan starts walking." Erin says turning to her husband. "Then you'll never get any rest."

"Oh can we not do that?" Nadia pipes in, glancing up from her menu to interrupt the couple. "He's still a baby!"

"Tell me about it," Erin mumbles as the waitress approaches their table, notepad in hand.

"You guys ready to order?" She asks, glancing around the table. Her eyes fall on Nadia first.

"Yeah, I'll have the – oh no." At the tone of her voice, both Erin and Jay glance up to their friend. They both grow worried when they take in Nadia's painful expression and wide eyes.

"What's wrong?" Jay asks, as Erin has suddenly lost her voice.

"I – I think my water just broke." She mumbles, her eyes drifting down to the ground. Both Erin and Jay jerk to look on the ground and their eyes widen.

"Ok Nads, stay calm." Jay says jumping from his seat. Erin follows suit and between the two of them they help her up.

"Oh god this really hurts." Nadia mumbles, her face contorting in pain. She turns to Erin. "How in the hell have you done this two times and would still go through it again if you could?"

"It is worth it honey, I promise." Erin says, helping Jay lead her toward the exit of the building. The entire restaurant was now silent as they watched the scene in front of them, but Erin, Jay and Nadia really didn't notice. "Just take a few breaths like you've been practicing."

Nadia nods her head, mimicking Erin who was now coaching her breathing for a few minutes before shaking her head. "That's not working, oh God get this kid out of me."

Jay has to bite his tongue not to laugh as he ushers Nadia into the backseat of his car. "Easy," Once she was inside, Erin climbs in the backseat with her friend, offering a helping hand. Jay quickly shuts the door and runs around the car, jumping in the driver's side. His door barely shuts before he flips his lights on and speeds out of the parking lot.

* * *

"Ok Nadia, you're officially ten centimeters!" The young nurse says standing up and slipping her gloves off. "I'm going to step out and page Dr. Manning who is on call. While these two nurses break down the bed and get ready for delivery ok?"

Nadia nods her head, fighting the urge to scream out from the pain she was feeling at that moment. She just wanted to get this over with.

"While I'm gone, I'm going to need you to make the decision on whether you want anyone in the room with you ok?"

"No need," Nadia replies instantly, halting the nurse steps from her door. "I already know who I want,"

"And who might that be, sweetie?"

"Erin and Jay."

Erin's eyes instantly feel with tears while she glances to her best friend. "Wait, what? You really want us in with you?"

"Of course," Nadia says reaching over and taking Erin's hand in her own. She squeezes it for good measure and Erin smiles. "You shared the day when Jaelyn was born and it was so amazing to be a part of all that, so I want you here for when I have my little girl."

"Me too?" Jay asks, standing from where he had been sitting across the room. His eyes were wide slightly in shock, but if it was what Nadia wanted, he would do it… for Nadia, who he secretly had a soft spot for. She was so much like a younger sister to him by now.

"Absolutely!" Nadia says reaching out and grabbing his hand as well. She glances back and forth between her two friends. "You two are going to be so important in this little girl's life. I want you in here."

"Then we'll be here, right Jay?" Erin asks, glancing up from her best friend to her husband. He nods, squeezing Nadia's hand in reassurance.

"We wouldn't miss it for anything."

"Ok you two," The nurse says to the couple, earning their attention. "Come with me and we'll get you guys ready to go!"

* * *

"Come on Nadia, just one more push." Dr. Manning shouts as Nadia lets out a loud groan. She collapses back in her hospital bed and Erin turns to her best friend. She runs a cold wash cloth over her friend's sweaty forehead, hating seeing her friend in so much pain.

"Come on Nads, you can do this." She assures her. Nadia shoots her best friend a dagger and Erin looks up to Jay for help.

He sighs from he stood next to her head, on the other side of the bed. "Erin's right Nadia, you can do this. Just one more push and you finally get to meet that precious baby girl."

"But it hurts so bad." Nadia sobs, her eyes squeezing shut at the pressure she was feeling. A few tears manage to slip past her clenched shut eyes and roll down her cheeks.

"I know it does sweetie," Erin says reaching up and brushing a few tears away. "But you can do it. You're one of the strongest people I know. Just one more push, for your baby girl."

Reluctantly, Nadia nods her head in agreement and prepares to push once more. Like the trooper she was, she holds out until the nurse counts to ten but then collapses back in the bed once more, as a tiny scream feels the room.

"And here she is!" Natalie announces to the room, holding the baby girl up so that Nadia and her friends could see her. "And she has a head full of black hair!"

"Oh Nadia," Erin mumbles, her hand flying to her mouth. Her eyes fill with tears as she stares at the little girl in awe.

"She's beautiful," Jay mumbles, and Nadia picks her head up to look at her daughter.

"She's perfect." Her eyes never leave her daughter as the nurse walks around the bed. Erin steps back so that the nurse can lay the baby on Nadia's chest. Her arms instantly fly up to hold her securely as she places a kiss to the top of the baby's head. "Hey little girl, it's about time we finally meet. My goodness you are too cute, I love you so much."

By now, Erin has made her way around the bed to stand next to her husband. Her arm snakes around his middle and his goes around her shoulders, allowing her to snuggle into his side as they both watch their friend with her daughter for the first time.

"Mommy loves you so very much baby girl." Nadia mumbles, leaning down and planting a kiss to the little girl once more. "So much."

"Doctor Manning," The sound of the frantic nurses' voice, both Erin and Jay whip around to face her, eyes wide and full of worry. "Her blood pressure is rocketing." She exclaims, taking the baby from Nadia's grasps and handing her to another nurse.

"Get them out of here!" Natalie shouts, referring to her brother in law and sister in law as she makes her way back to Nadia's bed.

"What? What's going on?" Erin croaks, her eyes shedding a waterfall of tears. "Is she ok?"

"Dr. Manning is going to help your friend," Another nurse, the one with the baby, says as she ushers Jay and Erin toward the door. "We will come find you as soon as we know something."

"But –"

"Erin, come on." Jay says firmly wrapping his arms around his wife's waist and all but pulling her out the door. "Let Nat do her job." Once he manages to get her outside of the room, he stops. He knows damn good and well he wouldn't get her to the lobby with the mess she was. She would want to be nearby and the hallway outside Nadia's room was as good as it was gonna get.

He doesn't waste any time pulling her into his arms, her arms wrap tightly around his waist as her face was buried in his chest. He can feel his shirt getting soaked from her tears, but he didn't mind. Not in that moment. "I can't lose her Jay," She sobs into his chest. "She's my best friend. I need her."

"I know you do," He says reaching up and running his hand over the back of her head. Erin was on the verge of hyperventilating she was crying so hard. "Shh baby, just breathe." Erin doesn't respond, instead she only continues to cry into his chest. Jay tries his hardest to consol his wife, as well as trying to stay calm himself for Erin's sake. Over Erin's shoulder, he watched as nurses ran to Nadia's room. Judging by the sight of the different instruments alone, he knew this wasn't going to end well.

* * *

"Did Natalie say what happened exactly?" Voight asks, watching from across the room as Erin sat holding the baby. She was hunched over in her chair, the baby sleeping safely in her lap, as her thumb ran up and down the soft skin of her cheek. Jay protectively sat close by, his eyes never leaving the sleeping baby in Erin's lap as the rest of the Intelligence Unit were scattered throughout the spare room the nursing staff had been so kind to provide them with.

"Her blood pressure shot up," Jay says tearing his eyes away from the baby girl in his wife's grasp to look at his boss. Understandingly after losing her best friend, Erin was extremely quiet so Jay took it upon himself to explain what Natalie had just reluctantly told them. "And she suffered a stroke. Apparently she had an unknown aneurism, that they assumed formed due to stress, and it ruptured."

Mixes of different emotions come from the unit in the small hospital room. Voight takes in a deep shaky breath, willing himself not to cry but strongly failing. Kim was hunched over in her seat, crying into her hands while Adam sat next to her, running his hand up and down her back as his eyes too filled with tears. Kevin sighs in defeat while Antonio shakes his head in disbelief. Olinsky was pacing the floor of the room. They were all struggling with the loss of one of their own in their different ways.

"What about the baby?" Atwater asks, breaking the eerily silence that had now over taken the group. "What's going to happen to her?"

"Nadia didn't have any family did she?" Adam asks, following his friend's question.

"No," Erin says, finally speaking up for the first time since the group had arrived. Her eyes slowly drag away from the baby to look up at her friends, her family. "No she didn't. The father never stuck around, much like her own. Her mother died the summer after graduation, and her last living aunt died not too long ago. The people in this room were all she had left."

"So no," Jay says, reaching up to run his hand down his face in frustration. "We don't know what is going to happen to her."

Just then, Voight stands up, earning the attention of his unit. He ignores them however, and points to both Erin and Jay. "Give that baby to Kim and come with me."

"What?" Erin's eyes bug out of her head. "No way, I'm not letting her out of my sight!"

"Erin we will be just right outside the door, we need to talk right now."

Erin stands up. "I don't care if we're right outside; I'm not letting her go. I've already lost her mother; I'm not losing her too."

Hank sighs. "Then fine, bring her with us but the three of us need to talk right now!" He all but growls, letting the married couple know he was serious. With confused expressions, the two stand up. Erin follows Hank, and Jay stops to face his unit.

"Are they okay with you guys for a minute?" Jay asks, turning to look at both Jaelyn and Jonathan who were asleep on the bed in the middle of the room.

"I got them Jay," Antonio says moving to sit in the chair next to the bed so he could watch them closer. "They'll be fine, now go."

"Thanks man." He says patting his friend on the shoulder before turning to follow his wife and his father in law out into the hallway.

"What is going on?" Erin asks, as Jay joins them and closes the hospital room door. She was now cradling the sleeping newborn in her arms. She rocks back and forth slightly as a notion to keep her fast asleep. Jay tiredly leans against the wall and Voight moves to stand in front of them.

"A couple of weeks ago, Nadia came to talk to me late one night, after everyone had gone home for the day." He sighs, while Jay and Erin look to him for answers. They were completely and utterly lost. "I know you don't want to hear this, because she said she had tried to talk to you before and you wouldn't listen but Nadia was sick."

"What?" Erin croaks, for the millionth time that night. "What do you mean sick? What was wrong with her?"

Voight shakes his head, suddenly hating that he had to be the one to tell Erin and Jay the news. "She never mentioned the aneurysm so either she didn't know or she didn't want _us_ to know about it, but she did come to me and tell me that she had been diagnosed with stage four ovarian cancer."

"Oh my god," Erin sobs, tears now streaming down her face. She was well on her way to a complete break down and Jay moves to take the baby from her. He wraps her safely in one arm, while slipping the other around Erin to hold her up, as if he had done it a million times before.

"She had discussed it with her doctor and apparently taking treatments would have harmed the baby and she didn't want that."

"So she refused treatment?" Jay asks, voicing Erin's question as well.

Voight nods. "Sadly, yes. She didn't want to do anything to put the baby at risk. I wasn't happy when she told me this but I knew where she was coming from. I had told her we would get the baby here and then get her treatments, but as you see it didn't work out that way." By the end of his sentence, all traces of sadness in his voice were gone, and replaced with anger.

"So if she didn't want anyone to know, why did she come to you?" Erin asks her eyes never leaving Hank's as she lays her head on Jay's shoulder in defeat.

"Well she said you two weren't having any talk of care for the baby if something happened to her," Erin and Jay exchange a look, both silent now knowing why Nadia had been so insistent on talking about it. "So she wanted to make sure someone would make sure that baby girl ended up with someone who truly loved and cared for her. She gave me this," He says reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out an envelope. He hands it to Erin, who instantly tears into it. "It's papers from her lawyer. She listed you two as the legal guardians if something were to happen to her."

Both Erin and Jay glance to him, eyes wide in shock before they both turn their attention back to the papers in Erin's shaking hands. Sure enough, there were their names listed as the guardians. Nadia had certainly thought this through.

"She made sure to make it a point to me that if you two didn't want to take this on or if you were unwilling in any way she didn't want you to feel pressured. We both agreed in that situation, that I would take her. She just wanted her to be with someone who loved her and who she knew would love her. She didn't want her in the system."

Still in complete and utter shock, Erin maneuvers her way out of Jay's embrace and turns to look at him. "What do we do?"

Jay offers his wife a sad smile before turning to look down at the sleeping beauty in his arms. He reaches up and runs his thumb down her cheek and watches as she squirms in her sleep. His smile grows. She was so peaceful in that moment, as if her whole world wasn't falling down around her. "Well we're taking her home, I can tell you that much." Jay says his voice full of conviction as he turns to look back at his wife.

The first real smile Erin had managed all night slowly crept across her face as she watched her husband with the little girl. "Well then I guess we need a name."

"Look in the envelope," Voight says, smiling at Erin and Jay gushing over the newest member of their constantly growing family.

Erin raises an eyebrow and exchanges a look with Jay before reaching in the envelope and pulling out a piece of notebook paper. Her eyes fill with tears once more as she takes in Nadia's handwriting.

 _Erin and Jay,_

 _If you are reading this then sadly, I am no longer with you. I wish nothing more than for you two to never know this exact letter existed. But in case you some days have to find out, I guess I have some explaining to do._

 _I never wanted to lie to you guys, either one of you. You both mean the world to me, and I can't thank either of you enough for the love and friendship you have shown me over the years. Erin, from day one of the first grade, you were my person. You laughed with me, cried with me, and saved my ass countless times. Lord knows our momma's (and later Voight) had their hands full with us. My best memories in my life included you as we got into all sorts of hell. I was beyond blessed to have a best friend as awesome as you. I love you, and you will always be the Rachel to my Monica. ;)_

 _Jay, your friendship came as a bit of a surprise. When you first started dating Erin, I wasn't sure about you, but you managed to grow on me over the years. You too quickly became one of my best friends and I'm so glad to have known you. I'm also forever grateful that Erin has you, because she's going to need you more than anything right now._

 _I hate that things had to turn out this way, but I couldn't bear to break the news to you guys. Little did you guys know - you only made it a bit easier by not wanting to hear it. But, it also made it terribly difficult because I never wanted to leave you guys unexpectantly. Or without an explanation, which is why I went to Voight and you have this letter._

 _However through it all, the worst part of me dying is knowing I have missed out on seeing the life of my beautiful Isabella Grace. I will never get to watch her grow, learn how to ride a bike, or go on her first date. I'll never get to hold her during her first heartbreak or laugh with her as she watches her uncle Ruzek make a complete ass of himself._

 _Writing this, my heart is aching knowing I'm going to miss out on so much. But I have a small bit of peace knowing my daughter will always have you two. That she will always have Voight. And that she will always have this unit as her family, always looking out for her and protecting her._

 _I know you two will take her under your wing, you'll show her the support that she needs, and that you two will push her to strive to be the best she could be. I know you two will clash with her at times, and she'll hate you for stupid teenager reasons. She'll be completely embarrassed when her first crush knocks on the door and Jay answers the door with his gun in hand, and she'll want to crawl under a rock the first time Erin dances around her friends (Sorry Er, but you suck.) But my heart swells knowing all the love you will give her, and that you will never let her feel unwanted or unloved. That'll you'll always be there for her, on her good days and her bad. That Erin will be there to help her get ready on her wedding day and that Jay will be there to walk her down the aisle, and then threaten her groom. Knowing all this, allows me to leave in peace because I know she will be taken care of._

 _I've taken it upon myself to have my lawyer draw up some paper work stating that you two will be her new legal guardians and that you two will take her and care for her the way I would have. If for any reason you two can't or don't want to, I understand. Please don't feel pressured. But if you're willing, shower her with love for me. Please let her know that I will forever be in her heart and I won't be more than a whisper away. Make sure she knows how much I loved her._

 _I love you guys so much, and I'm forever grateful for both of you. You will never know how much._

 _You two are now responsible for my whole world, and you're going to kick ass at it because you already are with Jaelyn and Jonathan. Kiss those sweet babies for me also, and let them know that Aunt Nadia misses them both so much already._

 _Xoxo, Nadia_

A steady stream of tears now flow down both Erin and Jay's cheeks as they glance to one another. Both stay silent for a few minutes, trying to wrap their heads around everything that was going on.

Finally Erin steps toward Jay, placing one hand on his bicep while the other runs over the thick head of hair the newborn was sporting. "Isabella Grace it is, welcome to the family baby girl." Her voice cracks, and tears stream down her cheeks, but she leans in to plant a soft kiss to Isabella's cheek. She pulls back and looks up to Jay, them locking eyes. He leans down, and captures her lips softly.

Erin giggles slightly, her arm still resting on his bicep as she looks back and forth between Isabella and her husband. "You thought you were tired before. We just got Jonathan on a normal sleep schedule, and we're back at square one buddy."

Jay lets out a long exhausted groan, as his head falls back onto the wall behind him, earning a laugh from both Erin and Voight.

"Good luck with that, you two."


	16. Epilogue

**Ok, I'm going to stop with the notes here. Just to say, this is the final part of this series.**

 **Thank you so so much for all the love and support. I hope you have enjoyed this little Linstead family journey as much as I have.**

 **Xoxo**

* * *

" _Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Halstead, it's a healthy beautiful baby girl." The doctor exclaims, holding the baby girl up for the new parents to see._

 _Erin instantly weeps with joy as Jay stares at his daughter. "God look at that head of hair."_

 _Erin laughs at her husband. "She didn't stand a chance between the two of us."_

 _Jay nods his head, laughing as well. He leans down and plants a kiss to Erin's sweaty forehead. "Thank you so much for her Er, I love you so much."_

 _Erin smiles as she rests back against her pillow, exhausted after the nineteen hours of labor she had just endured. "I love you too."_

" _Dad, do you want to cut the cord?" The doctor asks, glancing up at Jay. She holds out a pair of scissors and Jay eagerly takes them. He follows the doctor's orders and soon enough, the baby was being whisked away to be cleaned up and for measurements._

 _Jay's eyes never leave his daughter as the nurses worked on her across the room._

 _Seeing the look on his face, Erin squeezes his hand and he turns to glance at her. "Go with her." She nods her head in the direction of their daughter._

 _Jay doesn't argue, he just nods and leans down, kissing her softly before walking over to where his daughter was being cleaned up. He watches intently and as soon as she was cleaned off and measured, the nurse swaddles her in a blanket and turns to him. "You want to hold her dad?"_

 _Jay nods, and soon the nurse is carefully placing her in his arms. "Watch her head," She instructs and he nods his head, readjusting her in his arms. Once the nurse was satisfied, she smiles to him. "How does it feel?"_

" _It feels…" he trails off, his eyes never leaving his daughter in his arms. "Incredible."_

 _The nurse smiles and steps back, allowing the new father to have a moment alone with his daughter while she checked on Erin._

" _Hey baby girl," Jay mutters, his eyes glued to the perfect little girl in his arms. He was in awe that he and the woman he loved had created this perfect little girl. "I'm your daddy. God I can't tell you how happy I am to finally have you here."_

 _By now, Erin was more alert and sitting up in her bed, watching them closely as the nurses moved around the room, preparing for the next step of her delivery. Erin knew she should be out of it, exhausted and in pain, but watching Jay with their little girl made it more than worth it._

" _I'm going to love you forever, and I will protect you no matter what it takes. You're my girl, my number one and I'm going to do whatever it takes to make you happy." He trails off, running his finger down her cheek. "Welcome to this crazy world, Jaelyn Brooke. God, I love you so much." He whispers, reaching down and kissing her tiny forehead._

 _He had no idea that across the room, Erin was snapping a photo of this very moment. Later when he learned about the photo, it became his favorite. He printed it off when they got home, and it stayed on his desk at work for years to come. Even when Voight retired and Jay took over the unit, he moved it to his office to rest on his desk._

 _It was his reminder after a long hard day, that little girl would pull him through._

"Jay!" Erin shouts, and Jay sits the very same photo down on his desk in the office of their home. "Jaelyn's on the phone and she says she has something important to tell us."

"Oh that's never good." Jay mumbles walking into the living room and sitting on the couch next to his wife. He watches as Erin switches the phone to speaker phone before he speaks up. "Alright baby girl, here I am. What's going on?"

Jay and Erin share a knowing glance as they wait for their eldest daughter to tell them her exciting news, and Jay mentally prepares himself for what he knows is coming next.

"Jordan asked me to marry him!" Jaelyn eagerly squeals over the phone, and despite the fact that Erin already knew what their daughter was going to say, as the kid had stopped by a week ago to ask Jay's permission, she still squealed with her. Jay watches his wife and listens to her and his daughter in silence.

Upon hearing all the commotion, sixteen year old Jonathan comes running down the stairs with fifteen year old Isabella hot on his tail. They both look from their mother to their father, confused.

He offers them a sad smile as he hears Jaelyn speaking to him. "Daddy? You there?"

He clears his throat and turns his attention back to the phone that his wife was holding out to him. She gives him a sympathetic look and her hand comes to rest on his shoulder. She gives him a reassuring squeeze. "Yeah baby girl, I'm here." He sighs. "He makes you happy?"

"Happier than I've ever been." She replies instantly, and despite the ache he feels in his chest, he smiles. He had watched his daughter go through heartbreak after heartbreak in her twenty years, and he had truly never seen his little girl happier than she had been the last two and a half years. Jordan was a good kid, and he treated her right, so as much as he wanted to hate the kid, he couldn't.

They were young, but he and Erin had once been young and in love, so he knew he was not in a position to judge them, or deny them what he and Erin had experienced over the course of their marriage, and their relationship in general.

"Then congrats Jae, I'm happy for you."

"Thank you daddy! I know this is probably killing you right now, but thank you." Jay chuckles, his little girl knew him entirely too well.

"Anything for you, munchkin."

 **Look at the two of you dancing that way  
Lost in the moment and each other's face  
So much in love your alone in this place  
Like there's nobody else in the world  
I was enough for her not long ago  
I was her number one  
She told me so  
And she still means the world to me  
Just so you know  
So be careful when you hold my girl  
Time changes everything  
Life must go on  
And I'm not gonna stand in your way**

"Alright Jay, you can come in now." Jay hears Erin yell through the door. He reluctantly pushes himself off of the wall and takes a deep breath before opening the door and stepping into the room where his daughter was getting ready with her mother, her sister, and her two best friends who were serving as her bridesmaids.

Upon walking in the room, Jay takes in his daughter's appearance, and he can't stop his eyes from tearing up. She looked so breathtakingly beautiful, more and more like her mother with each passing day.

Brittany, one of Jaelyn's closest friends, smiles as she reaches down for her bouquet. Christina, Jaelyn's other best friend, follows in suit before they head for the door. "We'll step out and give you a few minutes."

Isabella reaches for her bouquet and heads for the door to do the same. She stops steps from the door when she feels a tug on her arm. She turns around to come face to face with her father, who was glancing down at her lovingly. "If only your mother could see you right now, she would be so proud. You look so beautiful."

"What are you talking about? She's behind you silly." Slightly confused, Isabella glances over her father's shoulder to where Erin stood watching them. She wore a smile, knowing where Jay had taken their small conversation.

Jay chuckles as he raises an eyebrow to his youngest daughter. "You know exactly what I'm talking about baby girl." He nods his head to the picture frame resting on the small end table near where they stood. Jaelyn had requested to have her aunt Nadia near on her special day, and Erin had jumped to provide just the right picture for the occasion. "You look so much like her."

Isabella's eyes travel from her father to the picture frame and her eyes glisten slightly. Though her mother had died in child birth, leaving Erin and Jay to become her mom and dad, her heart would always ache knowing she never got to meet the wonderful person who had brought her into this world. She often heard stories and had seen countless videos and pictures that her parents had stashed away, but it wasn't the same. "You really think I look like her?"

Jay nods, a sad smile tugging at his lips. "So much. With every little thing you do, I see her more and more. You're just as beautiful."

"Thank you daddy," She says stepping forward and wrapping her arms tightly around him. Jay wraps his arms around his youngest daughter's tiny frame and squeezes her, earning a giggle from her before they pull back. He shoots her a wink before leaning forward and pressing a loving kiss to her forehead. She returns the favor, reaching up and kissing him on the cheek before turning to walk out, leaving Jay, Erin and Jaelyn alone in the room.

Jay turns back to his wife and his daughter, and Erin smiles to him reassuringly. She knew today was a rough day for Jay. Jay was an amazing father, and he had a wonderful relationship with all three of their children, but Jaelyn was his first. While he had a different bond with each of their children, Jaelyn and Jay shared a bond like no other. Erin knew he would be a mess today. He was having a hard time coming to grips with the fact that after today, he wouldn't be the one that Jaelyn ran to for every little thing.

Erin turns to Jaelyn. "I'm going to go ahead out and make sure everything is ready to go, so you two can have a few minutes alone alright?" Jaelyn nods as Erin stands in front of her. Erin rests her hands on both of Jaelyn's shoulders and Jaelyn reaches up, placing a hand on top of her mothers. "Jaelyn, I just want you to know how proud you make me and your father. You're so smart, so beautiful, and so driven. You've grown up into such an amazing young lady and I love you so much. I know it isn't easy for most, but you've found you such a good man and for that, I'm even more proud of you." In an attempt to not cry, Erin reaches out and pulls her daughter in for a hug. It was no use, the duo was already crying. "I'm so happy for you baby."

"Thank you mom," Jaelyn sniffs, hugging her mother tightly. "I love you too."

"Next," Erin says pulling back. "Grandbabies. Lots of them."

"Whoa, why don't we get her married first?" Jay jumps in, shooting his wife a look. Both Jaelyn and Erin laugh while wiping their tears away. "She's still got plenty of time for that _way_ later down the road."

"I'm kidding." Erin says shooting her a husband a look before turning to their daughter and sending her a wink, letting her know she was only half kidding. "Alright, I'll see you out there." She pulls her daughter in for another quick hug before turning and heading for the door. She stops momentarily to reach up and plant a kiss on her husband's cheek. "Breathe babe."

Jay nods, letting his wife know he would do just that and he turns to watch her leave before facing his daughter again. She glances up to him, staying silent as she waits for him to speak. "So I'm thinking I'm not going to do the whole speech thing since your mom already made you cry, that ok?"

Jaelyn laughs, nodding her head. "Perfectly fine with me."

"Jaelyn," He mutters, walking forward to stand in front of her. "You look beautiful."

The young girl smiles up at her father. "Yeah?"

He nods, smiling back down at her. "You're the most beautiful bride I've ever seen."

"I heard that!" The father daughter duo hears Erin shout through the closed door across the room. They both laugh as Jay turns to his daughter, wide eyed.

"Thank you daddy." Jaelyn says, reaching up and wiping the tear that had betrayed Jay and slipped down his cheek.

"Hey guys, time to go!" The two hear Isabella yell through the door, as a persistent round of knocks sound.

"Coming," Jay shouts to his youngest, before turning back to his oldest. "You sure you want to do this? Cause I have a truck sitting right outside with a full tank of gas. You say the word and I can have you out of here in .2 seconds."

Jaelyn shakes her head, giggling. "Yes daddy, this is what I want. I love him."

Jay nods his head, having already known what her answer was going to be. "Worth a shot" He reaches his arm out and she smiles up at him, looping her arm through his. "You're always going to be my baby girl."

"And you're always going to be my number one." She says glancing up at him, her tear filled eyes locking with his.

In that moment, Jay doesn't trust himself enough to respond, so instead he just leans down and presses a loving kiss to his daughter's forehead.

 **But I loved her first and I held her first**  
 **And a place in my heart will always be hers**  
 **From the first breath she breathed**  
 **When she first smiled at me**  
 **I knew the love of a father runs deep**  
 **And I prayed that she'd find you someday**  
 **But it still hard to give her away**  
 **I loved her first**

"How you holding up, handsome?" Erin asks, as she and Kim walk to the table where Jay, Adam and Antonio were already sitting. Kim takes the seat in between Adam and Antonio while Erin sits next to Jay. She reaches up, laying her clutch on the table as he snakes his arm around the back of her chair.

"Well, let's see." Jay mumbles, glancing across the room, taking in the actions of his two youngest children. "My sixteen year old daughter is talking to some greasy haired freak," Erin's gaze follows his across the ball room where Isabella stood, talking to a guy who looked to be a couple years older than her. Other than the slightly longer hair, he looked to be a normal kid, but no boy was ever good enough for Jay's daughters.

"Yeah," Adam says, pushing his chair back and standing up. "I'm on that one." He shoots Erin and Jay a smirk before heading across the ballroom. He had always taken any opportunity to embarrass his nieces and nephew over the years, and today was no different. Plus, he really loved playing the scary uncle role. He and Jay both took great pleasure in scaring away boys when it came to Jaelyn and Isabella. They were both very protective.

Adam quickly strolls his way across the room and throws his arm around Isabella's shoulders, while she buries her face in her hands, clearly embarrassed. Adam looks to the younger man, staring him down, and the kid cowards down.

Kim rolls her eyes at her husband while Erin laughs and Jay continues. "My seventeen year old son is currently stealing drinks from the bar," he motions to the left side of the room and once again Erin's gaze follows his. This time, Antonio turns in his seat and shakes his head, laughing slightly as he watches Jon sneak a bottle of beer from behind the counter and chug it.

"I got him." Antonio assures them before pushing himself out of his seat and heading across the room to the bar. The three remaining detectives watch as Jonathan's eyes widen as he notices his uncle Tony approaching him. Antonio finally reaches him, and holds his hand out. Jonathan hesitates, but eventually hands the bottle to him, to only be met by a smack on the back of the hand. Erin and Kim laugh, but Jay was focused on the center piece of the table.

"And then my baby girl left me." Jay mutters, his voice cracking slightly, and Erin's hand comes to rest on his thigh. She gives him a slight squeeze while offering him a sad smile.

"She didn't leave you Jay; she's just being the strong independent woman we raised her to be."

"I know," His voice was soft, as he pulls Erin further into his side. "I just didn't expect this day so soon, she's so young, she's barely 21."

"I know babe," Erin nods her head, she completely agreeing with her husband, but at the same time she knew Jaelyn. She was a strong headed girl, and she never jumped into something until she knew damn good and well that it was worth it. "But she's your kid. She's strong headed, brilliant, and stubborn as all hell. She wouldn't have married him if she didn't know."

Jay nods. "I know, it just doesn't make it any easier."

Not knowing what else to do or say to ease her husband's pain, she just runs her hand up and down his leg, comfortingly.

Seconds later, they hear the DJ announce Jaelyn and Jordan and the entire room's gaze shifts to the double doors across the room. They all watch in awe as the doors swing open and the young couple was presented once again as husband and wife.

Jay watches as his daughter, and her new husband, make their way through the room, stopping every once and a while to hug family and friends. Soon enough, they reach the middle of the dance floor, and Jordan reaches out, pulling Jaelyn into his arms.

She looks up him lovingly as she wraps her arms around his neck, and his go firmly around her waist. They begin to sway back and forth as the soft music plays throughout the room.

" _Momma!" Four year old Jaelyn exclaims, running into the kitchen, where Erin was busy preparing dinner. "When is daddy coming home?"_

 _A very pregnant Erin turns to her daughter, and laughs. "He just called about twenty minutes ago and said he was on his way, so he should be home any time."_

 _As if on cue, the mother and daughter hear the front door open and Jaelyn takes off in a sprint to the living room, Erin waddling along behind her._

" _Daddy! You're home!" Jaelyn exclaims, jumping up into her father's arms._

" _Hey munchkin!" He laughs as he catches her with ease and places a sloppy kiss on her cheek, causing her to cackle as she reaches up and wipes her cheek._

 _Jay feigns hurt, and his daughter smirks back at him in return. "Jaelyn Brooke, you did not just wipe my kiss off!"_

" _Oops?" She asks, innocently, sending her father a smile. He chuckles as Erin appears in the doorway._

" _Hey handsome," She smirks, leaning against the doorframe._

" _Hey beautiful," He makes his way across the room to his wife, with his daughter still in his arms, and leans down to kiss her. Gaining protests and 'ewwws" from Jaelyn, they pull away laughing as Jay's hand flies to Erin's stomach. "And hey to my little buddy." He smirks as he feels the baby kick while Erin shoots him a playful glare._

" _You just had to get him started didn't you?"_

 _Jay's smirk only grows as he beams down at his wife. "You're just jealous because our kids like me more."_

 _Erin rolls her eyes, laughing slightly at her husband as she turns and makes her way back to the kitchen. "Come on guys, dinner is ready."_

 _Later that night, Jay makes his way down the stairs and down the hallway to the living room. He stays silent and leans against the doorframe, a giant smile on his face as he watches his daughter dance around the living room._

 _Sensing his presence, Jaelyn halts her movements and turns to face him. She places her hands on her hips and looks up to her father, sarcasm lacing her features. "What?"_

 _Jay chuckles. "Time for bed."_

" _But dadddyyy," She whines, and he raises an eyebrow at her. "I'm not tired!"_

" _You never are." He smirks and she rolls her eyes. She was her mother made over. "But your mom is already in bed and I promised her you would be asleep an hour ago."_

" _But I have to practice my dance for class!"_

" _And you have been all night, now come on and let's get ready for bed."_

" _One more dance?" She asks, glancing up at him. She juts her bottom lip out once for good measure, and Jay sighs. She was good._

" _Fine, one more." He turns to leave, but stops when she yells out for him. He turns back to her. "Yeah?"_

 _She doesn't say anything, but just holds her hand out. He smiles to himself and walks across the room to his little girl. He doesn't have to hear her explain herself; instead he reaches down and rests her tiny feet on top of his own._

 _She holds on to him tightly as he begins to move them around the room. Soon, the song is finished and Jay reaches down and picks his daughter up. She rests on his hip as she giggles, and he smiles at the sound. It was his favorite sound on the planet._

" _Good job, little Jae. I guess those dance lessons are paying off." He kisses her forehead as he heads for the hallway. He stops long enough to turn the stereo off before continuing down the hallway toward the staircase._

 _Jaelyn smirks up at him. "Maybe you should come with me next time."_

" _And what is that supposed to mean?"_

 _Jaelyn giggles. "You suck daddy."_

 _Jay can't help but laugh at his little girl. "Oh Jaelyn Brooke, you are your mother made over." She smiles up at him before resting her head on his shoulder and yawning. He smiles to himself knowing that no matter how much she tried to fight it, she was exhausted and would be out in no time._

 _When he reaches the top of the stairs, he takes her to her room and helps her change into her pajamas before laying her in the bed. "What book are we reading tonight?"_

 _From where she laid in the bed, she holds up a book and he smirks before climbing on the bed next to her. It was a tiny kid's bed and he was entirely too large for it. His legs hung over the end and he had to cuddle close to his little girl as he lay next to her, but he didn't mind._

" _Cinderella, a classic." He mutters, only to be met by a smile from her. He moves around to a comfier position on the too small bed and once he was comfy, Jaelyn snuggles into his side, resting her head on his shoulder._

 _He reaches down, planting a kiss to her temple before opening the book to the first page._

 **How could that beautiful women with you  
Be the same freckle face kid that I knew  
The one that I read all those fairy tales to  
And tucked into bed all those nights  
And I knew the first time I saw you with her  
It was only a matter of time**

"And now, it's time for the father daughter dance."

Jay was too caught up in his memories, that he didn't even hear the DJ announce the father daughter dance. He was only brought back to reality when Erin nudged him. "What?" He asks, turning to glance at his wife.

She nods to where Jaelyn was waiting on the dance floor for him. "Go enjoy your dance."

Jay glances up to his daughter and chuckles as she beckons him with her finger, eyebrow rose, earning a round of laughter from the crowd. Jay turns back to Erin. He places a kiss to her temple before standing up and making his way to the middle of the floor.

"What took you so long old man?" Jaelyn asks, as she pulls him in for a hug. Jay doesn't respond, instead he just chuckles as the song the two of them had picked out starts. He reaches down and wraps his arms around her, while her arms go around his waist, hugging him tightly while her head rests on his chest.

The two sway back and forth in peace, just enjoying the moment while the rest of the room looks on in awe. Erin watches, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Little did she (or anyone else for that matter) know, both Jay and Jaelyn were doing the same exact thing. Jaelyn had her face buried in her father's chest, while Jay's face was buried in her hair.

 **But I loved her first and I held her first  
And a place in my heart will always be hers  
From the first breath she breathed  
When she first smiled at me  
I knew the love of a father runs deep  
And I prayed that she'd find you someday  
But its still hard to give her away  
I loved her first  
**

" _Mom, dad? Are you guys home yet?" A seventeen year old Jaelyn yells out, stepping through the front door of the Halstead household. She looks up to see her younger sister Isabella sitting at the coffee table, working on her homework. "Bell, are mom and dad home?"_

 _Isabella looks up from her homework and nods. "Yeah, mom is in kitchen and dad is in the office."_

 _Jaelyn nods, not moving from her place in the doorway. "Will you go get them?"_

 _Isabella gives her sister a curious look, but does as she was asked anyway. Soon enough, both Jay and Erin were sitting on the couch watching their eldest daughter carefully. Isabella had moved her homework to the kitchen and Jon was at basketball practice._

" _What's going on?" Jay asks, finally being the one to break the silence. "Please tell me you aren't pregnant."_

" _God, no! Dad, do you really think I'm that stupid?" She exclaims, resting her hands on her hips and staring at her father._

 _Erin turns to her husband and he shakes his head as his eyes stay focused on his daughter. "No, you're just freaking me the hell out. Come on, out with it."_

 _Jaelyn takes a deep breath as she looks back and forth between her mother and her father. "Ok, I have someone I want you guys to meet."_

 _Both Erin and Jay stay silent, and while Erin doesn't move, Jay sits up straight from his spot on the couch. His eyes never leave Jaelyn as she makes her way to the front door. She pauses with her hand on the doorknob before turning back and looking at them._

" _Look, I know you two are badass cops and all, but I really like this one, so please don't scare him away." She then turns back to the door and opens it while Erin and Jay share a look._

 _The two watch as their daughter turns back to them, a young guy following closely behind her. He was a couple inches taller than Jaelyn, with blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He follows Jaelyn across the room and steps around her to make his way to where Jay and Erin were now standing in front of the coffee table._

 _He turns to Jay first, holding his hand out. "Mr. Halstead, it's nice to finally meet you. I'm Jordan."_

 _Jay stays silent, glancing from the kid, to Jaelyn, to his wife. Erin raises an eyebrow at him and Jaelyn was sending daggers through him. "It's nice to meet you too Jordan."_

 _Jordan smiles at Jay before turning and glancing at Erin. "And you must be Mrs. Halstead," He says holding his arm out to her as well. She gives him a warm smile and shakes his hand, impressed at his actions. "It's nice to finally meet you also."_

" _It's nice to meet you too Jordan, are you staying for dinner?"_

 _Jordan glances between Jaelyn and Erin. "Uh, sure. Thanks."_

 _Erin smiles to the young man. "Good, Jaelyn come help me finish up." She says nodding to the kitchen and she raises an eyebrow at Jaelyn whose eyes widen at the thought of leaving Jordan with her dad. "Now, Jaelyn."_

 _Jaelyn shoots Jordan an apologetic look before following her mother into the kitchen, leaving Jay and Jordan alone in the living room._

 _Taking in the terrified look on Jordan's face, Jay can't help but smile. He seemed like an ok kid, but Jay always had enjoyed playing the tough dad role when it came to Jaelyn's boyfriends._

 _As much as he wanted to be a hardass, he chuckles before sitting back down on the couch. "Come on son, sit down."_

 _Jordan nods, following after Jay and sitting on the opposite couch. He starts to ramble before he knows what he's doing. "Mr. Halstead, I'm sure you really want to kill me, and I have no doubt you can make that happen given that you run that unit you and Mrs. Halstead work in,"_

 _Jay sits back, crossing his arms over his chest as he watches the young boy scramble frantically. He was enjoying it a bit too much, probably._

" _But I truly do like your daughter, and I want to take her out, but your approval means the world to her. And she means the world to me, so your approval matters to me as well. I would never treat Jaelyn the way that other guy did," he pauses, and Jay glances to the kid, surprised that Jaelyn had told him about her first heartbreak. She usually didn't like to talk about it, but he knew that meant that this kid meant something to her. "I would never hurt her."_

" _You better not," Jay says leaning forward, his elbows resting on his knees. "Because if you break my baby girl, not only will you have me on your ass, but you'll have her mother, and you will have my entire unit on you. They all would kill for that girl without a second thought, and I have no problem covering their asses if it boils down to it, understand?"_

 _Jordan nods, gulping slightly._

 _Jay smirks. "Oh, and don't even get me started on her grandpa. He may be retired, but that man will be a true cop until the day he dies and Jaelyn is without a doubt the one person in this world he would do anything, and I do mean_ _ **anything**_ _, for. If by some chance you make it through me, and Erin,_ _ **and**_ _my unit, you'll never live through the torment that Hank Voight will bring on you."_

" _Dad!" Jaelyn shrieks in horror._

" _Jay," Erin yells from the kitchen. "Give the kid a break!"_

 _Jay chuckles, turning back to Jordan. "I'm 100% serious here Jordan. You want to take my daughter out on a date? Go for it. You care about her? Awesome. As long as she's happy, you and I are good, but if you hurt her –"_

" _Then I insist on you coming after me." Jordan says, cutting in._

 _Impressed with his answer, Jay stands, holding his hand out. Jordan follows and shakes his hand. "Welcome to the crazy kid."_

 **From the first breath she breathed  
When she first smiled at me  
I knew the love of a father runs deep  
Someday you might know what I'm going through  
When a miracle smiles up at you**

All too soon, the song ends and Jay and Jaelyn pull away from their embrace. Jay leans forward, placing a kiss on his daughter's forehead, telling her how much he loves her as he watches Jordan approaching them out of the corner of his eye.

When he finally takes a step back, he turns to Jordan. "You remember the talk we had the first day we met?"

"How could I forget," Jordan chuckles, glancing up to his father in law. "You scared the hell out of me."

Jay chuckles, as he takes Jaelyn's hand that he was still holding onto tightly and placing it in Jordan's waiting hand.

"Remember that conversation always. If you hurt her, we will all be waiting." He nods to the side of the floor where Erin, Kim, Adam, Kevin, Antonio, and even Olinsky and Voight all sat, watching them closely.

Jordan nods his head, while Jaelyn shoots her father a glare. Jay simply smirks. "Welcome to the family kid."


End file.
